Henkel’s business unit Consumer Brands recognized its top suppliers for their industry-leading performance in 2023 with an award ceremony. The event took place at the American Cleaning Institute Convention in Orlando, Florida, on 29 January with more than 200 participants. The top partners were awarded in three categories: Evonik was honored with the “Sustainability Award”. DSM-Firmenich, Ashland and BASF received each a “Best Innovation Contributor Award”. The winner of the “Supply Resilience Award” was Shell.

Bertrand Conquéret, President Global Supply Chain and Corporate Senior Vice President Purchasing at Henkel, welcomed the representatives of more than 30 major suppliers together with Frank Meyer, Corporate Senior Vice President Global R&D Henkel Consumer Brands.

Evonik, Ashland and Takasago received the “Sustainability Award 2023”
Evonik won the first-place award for sustainability. The company received the prize in recognition of introducing a plant-based softening agents in Henkel’s global fabric finisher products. “We award Evonik for their support in replacing traditional softening actives with a vegan and renewable alternative,” said Dr. Thorsten Bastigkeit, Global Head of Research & Open Innovation at Henkel Consumer Brands. “The new material provides excellent application properties together with a beneficial CO₂ footprint.“

A runner-up prize in the sustainability category went to Ashland for their outstanding support in developing an improved and more sustainable hair styling ingredient. Dr. Rolf Bayersdörfer, Global Head of R&D Open Innovation & New Business at Henkel Consumer Brands, said “This excellent contribution by Ashland underlines the strong partnership and helps us to significantly increase the share of renewable material in our styling product ranges while enhancing product performance.”

Takasago has been awarded as second runner-up in sustainability for a new biodegradable perfume encapsulation technology: “Fragrances are a key performance contributor in our laundry products. The new encapsulation system provides long lasting fragrance benefits in our traditional powder products while increasing the share of biodegradable raw materials in our products,” said Rolf Bayersdörfer.

DSM-Firmenich, Ashland and BASF are awarded as “Best Innovation Contributor 2023”
At the award ceremony, Ana Mota, Corporate Vice President Fabric Cleaning at Henkel Consumer Brands awarded DSM-Firmenich as “Best Innovation Contributor 2023” in the laundry care category for their breakthrough technology in the development of a new biodegradable pro-fragrance for our Persil liquid products: “This unique pro-fragrance technology will provide an exceptional long-lasting freshness experience which is core to the Persil brand, and leads to consumer perceived benefits with our signature scent.”

Ashland received this prize in the hair category: “With the help of Ashland, we were able to develop a unique renewal and restore technology from scratch, which enables us to launch the next generation of hair care products with unseen performance in our leading domains of hair repair,” said Agnès Thée, Corporate Vice President International Marketing Unit Global Category Hair at Henkel Consumer Brands. “This innovation will help us to extend our leading position in the hair care category and our commitment to deliver consumer-centric solutions.”

BASF was awarded for its contribution in the home care sector and was honored for providing a high performing builder technology that is used in automatic dishwashing tablets. Douglas Rocha, Corporate Vice President Global R&D Laundry & Home Care at Henkel Consumer Brands, explained: “Performance at low temperatures is a key issue for consumers in automatic dishwashing. With the help of the new builder technology, BASF enabled improved cleaning with particularly difficult stains and high shine results even at lower temperatures and thus savings of up to 45 percent of energy by switching to the eco-program.”

Shell wins “Supply Resilience Award 2023”
Three suppliers were awarded for their “Supply Resilience”. Key elements for outstanding supply performance include excellent operational management and best-in-class service combined with continued progress in risk management and sustainability. “Shell stood out in pioneering the implementation of a biomass balancing solution for Henkel in North America to replace around 200,000 tons of fossil feedstocks with renewable feedstocks. Also, Shell delivered top performance in operational supply in 2023,” said Sebastian Schauten, Vice President Global Purchasing at Henkel Consumer Brands. Runner-ups were Galaxy and Clariant in recognition of their supply reliability and efforts in prioritizing Henkel during supply shortages of critical raw materials.

Bertrand Conquéret thanked all suppliers for their strong support: "As a leading company, we aim to pioneer new solutions for sustainable development while we continue to shape our business responsibly. We are focusing on climate change mitigation measures, a functional circular economy, and the protection of nature and biodiversity. Together and with your help, we will generate impact across our entire value chain.”