Strategy
Our business model
At Corbion, we exist to ‘preserve what matters.’ We are the global market leader in lactic acid and its derivatives, and a leading supplier of food preservation solutions, functional blends, and algae ingredients. We use our unique expertise in fermentation and other processes to deliver sustainable solutions for the preservation of food and food production, health, and our planet.
Our Advance 2025 strategy is aligned with the material sustainability matters. For more information on our business model, products, and markets served, see At a glance (new window) and Our Advance 2025 strategy (new window).
All our revenues are classified under NACE code C manufacturing. Based on our business units, these can be further divided into NACE C20.1 (Manufacture of base chemicals) and NACE 10.6 (Manufacture of grain mill products, starches, and starch products).
Our value chain
As a B2B ingredient supplier, Corbion operates by sourcing, processing, and distributing agriculturally derived solutions to customers in markets such food, home and personal care, animal nutrition, supplements, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and bioplastics. Throughout our value chain and by way of our solutions, we aim to positively contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Farmers
We rely on agricultural crops, such as sugar cane, corn, and wheat, which are grown and harvested by farmers in Brazil, Thailand, and the US. In Thailand, this involves smallholder farmers.
Suppliers
Corbion is not directly involved with the growing, harvesting, or processing of the crops that provide our raw materials. We partner with our direct suppliers and engage with other stakeholders involved in our agricultural supply chains to implement our Sustainable Agriculture Policy. We also work with chemical suppliers.
Production
We manufacture our products in six countries (US, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain, and Thailand), ensuring consistently high product quality while carefully managing the use of resources such as water, natural gas, and electricity.
Innovation and sales
We have innovation centers and sales offices in the US, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Singapore, and China. Additionally, we have sales offices in Argentina, Poland, Spain, France, India, Thailand, Korea, and Japan.
Customers and consumers
We are a B2B partner for customers in food (e.g., bakery, meat, and confectionery), home & personal care products, pharmaceuticals, biomedical polymers, animal health, aquaculture, chemicals, electronics, polymers, and indirectly bioplastics. Our customers are located in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Use of our products does not lead to CO2 emissions.
End of life
Most of our products are eaten by people, fish, and pets, and most of the carbon in our products is biobased. End of life emissions are therefore biogenic and do not contribute to climate change. The rest of our products are degraded in wastewater treatment. PLA is recycled, composted, incinerated, or discarded.
Resilience of our strategy and business model
Our Advance 2025 strategy builds on Corbion’s fundamental strengths by further focusing our business portfolio in alignment with global market trends including opportunities related to sustainability. We aim to increase the proportion of our revenues that contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This will be achieved by increased investments in key growth areas such as natural food preservation, algae-based ingredients, lactic acid derivatives, and natural polymers. These investments allow Corbion to take advantage of opportunities related to climate change, biodiversity, circularity, and consumer health (see Our sustainable solutions (new window)).
To address our (potential) negative impacts on people and on the environment, our strategy includes sustainable development targets and various programs to deliver on these targets. Our responsible sourcing program addresses impacts and risks related to climate change, biodiversity, water, and human rights in the supply chain. We have allocated dedicated resources to our Net Zero innovation program, to identify energy savings opportunities in our existing manufacturing lines and to develop new technologies. We started building the capability to address our water-related impacts and risks at our sites with high-water risk. Our EHS platform aims to reduce incidents. Our people strategy includes initiatives for talent attraction, retention, and development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. These programs allow Corbion to address material impacts and risks. For more details on the resilience of our strategy to climate change, see Climate change (new window). The current financial effects of our material risks and opportunities on the financial position, financial performance and cash flows are not material. Furthermore, we have not identified material risks and opportunities for which there is a significant risk of a material adjustment within the next annual reporting period to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities reported in the related Financial statements.