Sustainability

At the core of our business strategy: The global challenge

Feeding 9 billion people with more nutritious food and using less resources, while bringing better benefits to farmers and rural communities, is the biggest challenge that the agricultural sector needs to meet by 2050.

Major transformations and new approaches are required by the system’s stakeholders to support the agricultural sector and be able to respond to the challenge.

The United Nations have defined an agenda for sustainable development by 2030. This agenda defines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) that aim to create balance between the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of development. In addition to that, the SDG’s aim to promote peace and foster collaboration between countries and stakeholders to ensure the realization of the 2030 agenda.

Milestones of our sustainability journey

As a family-owned business part of the food sector, we recognize our responsibility towards future generations and food security, from farm to fork.

Throughout our 20+ years of experience, we have strived for procuring and distributing high quality and food safe spices, herbs and dehydrated vegetables from origin.

Environmental and social compliance have been essential benchmarks of our business model, but since 2017 we have taken an active approach towards sustainability. By working together on the upper supply chain, we have made significant progress on matters such as: social responsibility, environmental control, and quality assurance.

We work with responsible suppliers and highly qualified processors whom we encourage to work on good agricultural practices, working conditions, environment, and fair business practices. Our partners commit to these principles through our Supplier Code of Conduct and quality policies.

Engaging in Sector Collaboration to achieve Sustainability

Since 2019, we are an active member of the Sustainable Spice Initiative (SSI), a global platform that aims to transform the spices sector into sustainability.

Being part of this front-runner group of companies, we have committed to: Increasing our sustainable sourcing volumes with internationally recognized certifications that are socially and environmentally compliant & Collectively addressing sectorial issues  such as: Child Labour, Climate and income increase.

Assessing our sustainability practices

ESS has been awarded a Gold Medal by EcoVadis in its 2024 sustainability assessment. This marks the second consecutive year that the company has maintained its Gold Ranking, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to responsible business practices within the Spices sector.

We are placed in the top 5% of companies rated by Ecovadis in the Wholesale of food & beverages industry. Read more at EcoVadis