Human rights in the supply chain

Corbion’s business strategy and decision-making processes incorporate impacts on upstream value chain workers, with a focus on agricultural supply chain workers, including farmers and mill workers. This is achieved through the implementation of a human rights due diligence process and responsible sourcing program, which integrate supplier policies, risk assessments, questionnaires, stakeholder engagement, certification, and audits to address impacts on value chain workers. Smallholder farmers are part of our Tier 2 supply chain, and we work with our Tier 1 suppliers to address potential impacts on them.

Corbion is dedicated to collaborating with stakeholders, industry leaders, and policy leaders on issues affecting workers in our supply chain. Our efforts in this area include aligning our commitments to the United Nations Global Compact and our membership of relevant multistakeholder initiatives such as Bonsucro, a global non-profit setting sustainability standards for sugarcane production. Since 2024, we have participated in a Business and Human Rights learning group with industry peers, led by United Nations Global Compact, to exchange best practices on managing human rights in our own operations and supply chain

How we manage our impact: strategy and governance

Impacts, risks, and opportunities

Corbion’s business model depends primarily on carbohydrates, which are used as feedstock in our fermentation processes. To a lesser extent, our business depends on wheat, soy bean oil, and palm oil – as of 2024, due to business changes our dependance on soy bean oil and palm oil has significantly decreased.

Hereby, Corbion depends on agricultural workers employed by suppliers. These dependencies may develop into risks where labor shortages, extreme weather events or non-compliance with labor regulations lead to supply disruptions or reputational impacts. The undertaking considers external developments such as changes in labor law when assessing these risks.

In 2025, we conducted a global human rights saliency assessment to inform impacts on people across our value chain and our human rights strategy. The saliency assessment was conducted in partnership with Shift, the leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and included desk research, interviews with internal stakeholders and a series of workshops with senior leadership.

The saliency assessment led us to expand the potential impacts on workers in our value chain. Potential impacts now include working conditions of agricultural workers particularly in Thailand and Brazil as well as the working conditions of non-agricultural workers, including contractors, drivers and workers employed by our suppliers and contract manufacturing partners. It also allowed us to better understand the impacts that workers in our sugar supply chain are facing, such as heat stress and exposure to pesticides. Other risks arise from a higher prevalence of poor working conditions, forced labor, and child labor in these countries’ agricultural practices, and from limited visibility of how smallholder farmers, who operate under structural constraints such as suboptimal access to resources, technology, and markets, are impacted by socioeconomic conditions.

Policies

For information on Corbion’s Human Rights Policy, see Human rights (new window).

Supplier Code

Our Supplier Code defines Corbion’s expectations for all suppliers and their contractors. Its objective is to ensure alignment between Corbion’s actions and the actions of our suppliers on business ethics, human rights, labor conditions, and environmental practices. The code is based on OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code, Accountability Framework Initiative, and the fundamental conventions defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO). It includes provisions addressing worker safety, human trafficking, use of forced labor, and child labor, all in line with applicable ILO standards. All our suppliers must sign this code to confirm their adherence or demonstrate commitment through their own company policies that embrace the code’s standards. When necessary, we support suppliers in understanding and meeting the requirements of the code.

Cane Sugar Code

Corbion’s Cane Sugar Code defines specific requirements for producing sustainable cane sugar, based on Bonsucro’s definitions for sustainable sugarcane and derived products. In relation to human and labor rights, it covers topics such as, child and forced labor, discrimination, freedom of association, availability of grievance mechanisms, compliance with ILO standards, safe and healthy working conditions, appropriate wages and working hours, plus documented and legal employment. Implementation is monitored through audits and certification. Our Cane Sugar Code applies to all Corbion's suppliers of cane sugar. For more details on our audit program, see our Cane Sugar Policy (new window).

The Chief Technology Officer, Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer, and Head of Sustainability hold joint accountability for the implementation of these policies.

Engagement, grievances, and remediation

Engagement

Corbion’s human rights due diligence process involves regular engagement with potentially affected stakeholders, including suppliers, smallholder farmers in our agricultural supply chain, and local communities. Engagement throughout our supply chain takes the form of supplier meetings, supplier days, surveys and meetings with NGOs as credible proxies for supply chain workers and smallholder farmers. Engagement with key sugar suppliers is ongoing, while engagement with NGOs as proxies typically takes place ad-hoc and as part of our double materiality assessment and member meetings. Our approach to engagement is outlined in our Stakeholder Engagement Policy (new window), which provides definitions of key terms, specifies different types of engagement, and explains important underlying principles. The Executive Committee is jointly responsible for the policy.

Corbion does not yet apply a formal methodology to assess the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement. At this stage, engagement activities are carried out by employees in line with the Stakeholder Engagement Policy, which guides how we interact with stakeholders, but we do not systematically evaluate effectiveness. We recognize the ESRS requirement to do so and intend to develop a more structured assessment approach in future reporting periods.

Currently, Corbion does not have Global Framework Agreements or similar agreements with global union federations.

Grievances

Using SpeakUp, a dedicated online channel, our suppliers can file grievances related to Corbion’s business conduct, including potential violations of the Corbion Code of Business Conduct, Supplier Code, Cane Sugar Code, any applicable laws and regulations or certification standards as well as situations where the public interest is at stake. Suppliers are made aware of the channel through the Supplier Code. Reports of suspected violations are kept confidential to the highest extent possible, consistent with the need to conduct an adequate investigation. Suppliers filing grievances are protected against retaliation if concerns about suspected misconduct are reported in good faith, even if these turn out to be unfounded. For more information on how grievances are handled, please see the section Speak Up channels and Anti-Retaliation Policy (new window).

As a member of Bonsucro, Corbion provides affected workers in the cane sugar supply chains with an opportunity to file grievances through the mechanisms provided by Bonsucro. Suppliers are required to make grievance mechanisms available at the workplace level and are asked to notify Corbion if this is not possible. Bonsucro’s grievance mechanism is designed to align with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) effectiveness criteria. These criteria are a key basis for monitoring whether the grievance system is effective. Designing the grievance mechanism around these criteria means monitoring involves checking whether these principles are being met in practice. In addition, we use SMETA self-assessment questionnaires to monitor the availability of grievance mechanisms at the sites of our high-risk suppliers.

Remediation

Potential human rights impacts are assessed in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as well as the OECD Due Diligence Guidance on Responsible Business Conduct. Remediation is based on whether Corbion is potentially causing, contributing to, or linked to the potential or actual negative impact, with external expertise consulted when necessary. We also collaborate with industry peers and multistakeholder organizations to prepare for situations where remediation or joint leverage to facilitate remediation may become necessary. The effectiveness of eventual remedies is evaluated in dialogue with affected stakeholders or their proxies and, if necessary, with the involvement of external expertise.

Performance

Targets

We target 99% verified cane sugar by 2030 to address the environmental and social risks in our cane sugar supply chain. We also target 90% supplier code coverage to ensure suppliers align with our standards. Targets are monitored and reviewed annually, taking into account strategic relevance, developments in the external market or regulatory landscape, changes in our business scope, and insights from our materiality reassessment. Performance against the target is tracked through periodic internal assessments of the underlying metrics and disclosed in our annual report, including any significant deviations from planned progress.

Targets are not based on scientific evidence. These targets are similar to those mentioned in the chapter on Biodiversity (new window), as our responsible sourcing program encompasses protection for ecosystems as well as ethical treatment of workers. We have not set targets related to advancing positive impacts. For further information on our biodiversity accounting policies, see Appendix 2: Definitions (new window).

Actions and progress

Delivering a positive social impact through our solutions starts with understanding the social impact of business activities throughout our supply chain and how they affect our stakeholders. We have therefore implemented a broad range of measures and programs to evaluate and mitigate actual and potential human rights and labor rights impacts on supply chain workers and smallholder farmers in our high-risk geographies and sectors. These initiatives are outlined below and include: the supplier sustainability risk assessment and the responsible sourcing of cane sugar. In 2025, we conducted an action planning workshop with senior leadership to identify appropriate measures to address our salient topics going forward. We have not defined time horizons for actions or made broader changes to our overall business model or strategies based on the assessment process in 2025.

Supplier sustainability risk assessment

We assess all our raw material suppliers for potential risks related to human rights and environmental impacts. This sustainability risk assessment is conducted using RepRisk, a tool that systematically identifies material ESG risks by analyzing information from public sources and stakeholders. It also considers specific risk elements, such as the use of SIN-listed raw materials and potential conflict minerals. The risk assessment results in a high, medium, or low score for each raw material/supplier combination. The risk assessment is updated annually and conducted for any new raw material or supplier. Alongside these assessments, Corbion uses the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX) platform and the SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) to monitor the social performance and compliance of our high-risk suppliers. In 2025, we evaluated the use of RepRisk against the OECD due diligence guidance and decided to adopt a new supply chain due diligence tool to strengthen risk assessment and enhance documentation of our supply chain engagement and mitigation efforts going forward. We have not defined time horizons for actions or made broader changes to our overall business model or strategies based on the assessment process in 2025.

Responsibly-sourced cane sugar

In 2025, the share of verified responsibly-sourced sugar decreased from 99% to 92%. This temporary decline was driven by the use of alternative suppliers to ensure continuity of supply, for which verification was not prioritized given their short‑term nature. As a result, we did not meet our 2025 target of 98% verified responsibly-sourced cane sugar. To strengthen performance going forward, we have implemented targeted measures to increase the share of verified sugar sourcing and remain confident in our ability to return to and exceed target levels. Our cane sugar audit program helps us work toward our supplier’s compliance with relevant ILO standards and adequate mitigation of any potential or actual negative human rights and labor rights impacts on supply chain workers, at the mill and farm level. Identifying non-compliances related to these impacts allows us to work with suppliers to create and implement corrective action plans, thus ensuring an improvement in the working conditions of affected supply chain workers. Non-compliances and follow-up actions are tracked as part of our auditing program, and effectiveness is ensured through subsequent audits, as well as training delivered to workers at the relevant mills.

Overall, in 2025 we advanced our due diligence maturity by strengthening our risk‑assessment tools and identifying opportunities to enhance the follow‑up of corrective actions. These developments mark continued progress in addressing our salient human rights and labor‑rights impacts in the high‑risk segments of our supply chain. Looking ahead, our aims for continued improvement include further increasing the accuracy and documentation of our supply‑chain due diligence and returning to full compliance with our responsible‑sourcing targets.

Actions on engagement, grievances, and remediation

Direct engagement with sugar cane workers in regions such as Thailand and Brazil fed into our saliency assessment. This, along with continued engagement with our sugar suppliers in 2025, particularly on our approach to responsible sourcing, will inform future policy updates and remediation. Additionally, the adoption of a new due diligence platform will allow us to establish dialogue with a wider number of suppliers across our value chain.

Actions related to this topic involve colleagues from procurement, manufacturing, and sustainability.