Sustainability is gaining momentum in business and is a factor that increases the value of the companies that strive to achieve it. CataloniaBio & HealthTech’s last Lessons Learned conference, on May 31, at ESADE Creapolis (Sant Cugat), put the focus on sharing experiences in establishing sustainable practices in companies in the sector. Specifically, on how to extend these practices to suppliers, which is one of the most important challenges they face.
That’s why it has brought together representatives of large companies and SMEs, who work either as customers or as service or product providers. The participants were Cristina Ruscalleda, Director of Procurement at Ferrer; Carlos Calvet, Procurement Manager at Diagnostic Grifols; Conxita Rusinés, HR and CSR Manager at Vytrus Biotech; and Àngel Martínez, Chief Financial Officer at Kymos Pharma.
The session was presented by Melqui Calzado, Deputy General Manager at CataloniaBio & HealthTech, and the session moderator was Giulia Borsa, a sustainable procurement expert at Ecovadis.
Ferrer is the first Catalan pharmaceutical laboratory to enter the B Corp community and they have made sustainable practices the company’s motto. Cristina Ruscalleda described the Suppliers for good strategy as one of the core concepts of Ferrer for good. “We are a paradigmatic case because we started working on sustainability from the inside out and we immediately realized that we had to work on it from the outside too.” At Ferrer they have defined the sustainability standards that are required from suppliers, with varying degrees of compliance, while attempting to incorporate them into the processes, as well as the incorporation of new suppliers. “The ultimate goal is to establish a programme of engagement and support for our suppliers, and even to provide resources to strategic suppliers”, she added.
At Grifols they have started implementing the sustainability plan in one of their divisions, in the diagnostic area. “We are a global health company, and so these are values we have had from the start”, explained Carlos Calvet. They are now working to formalize these values in a sustainability plan, in line with the SDGs, and they plan to extend it to the whole company. In the diagnostic area of the procurement department, they have relied on Ecovadis to evaluate suppliers. “Many were already working on it, others are helping us make improvements and now we have almost 60% of the certified expenditure”, he added.
Conxita Rusinés explained a similar case for Vytrus, a company that bases its products on plant ingredients, which had already considered these values as foundational and have now worked to establish a plan aligned with the SDGs. In 2021, they were awarded the Ecovadis Platinum Medal. “The main obstacle for us is the supply of raw materials. Volume, distribution and proximity are handicaps for us when finding suppliers that work in sustainability”, explained Rusinés. “On the other hand, in the services area, it is easier for us to find suppliers that adapt to our standards, because they also work in other sectors and are adapting to it”.
“You have to make investments, but you end up cutting costs, for example, in energy saving, waste management and even in human resources management that reduces the occupation of space”, said Àngel Martínez, in relation to the experience in Kymos. In this case, the trigger for implementing sustainability in the company was a request from a customer who asked them for an evaluation by the Ecovadis platform, as suppliers. “At first it can be burdensome, but the benefit is indisputable. It has helped us a lot to be able to offer the image of a sustainable supplier”, said Martínez. The lesson learned, in this case, is that they would have started working on it sooner after seeing the benefits.
The day ended with a networking session that allowed everyone to continue sharing experiences, including both speakers and representatives of the attending companies. The debate on this Lessons Learned conference continues through the promotion of sustainable practices among companies in the sector, a task promoted by the Sustainability Working Group, which continues to strengthen initiatives such as the Shared Value training programme of 2021.
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