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able growth. Through our unique co-development
approach, we stay very close to our customers,
which generally gives us a good understanding of
their sustainability needs.
The demand for solutions with stronger sustaina-
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A large part of the dialogue with our customers was
focused on understanding and developing solutions
with the right sustainability credentials versus their
needs. Our customer requirements on sustainability
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customers. We see a higher demand for solutions
with stronger sustainability credentials from our
global consumer goods customers, our European
and North American customers as well as our
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and Cosmetic Industry.
The key sustainability credentials were often
related to our responsible sourcing practices for our
many raw materials sourced from around the world.
The most general requirement is the traceability
of the raw material back to origin as this is the
foundation for building additional credentials such
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social impacts on the ground as for our Kolo Nafaso
activities in West Africa.
In 2018, AAK conducted a global customer survey to
assess whether we live up to our promise of being our
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solutions.
More than 2,000 con customers tacts were invited to
participate in the survey. The response rate was high,
and the input has provided us with key insights as to
what we should do to further improve our abilities to
deliver upon our customers’ expectations. A concrete
action plan has been put into place across business
areas, regions, segments, and customers.
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show our customers that we are learning from the past
and from their feedback.
The survey also included questions regarding
customers’ perception of AAK’s sustainability performance.
The feedback was generally positive, and
customers wanted to see an even more proactive
approach from AAK.
In 2019 we followed up with a stakeholder analysis
in line with the GRI requirements to assess more
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to focus on from a customer and other stakeholder
perspectives. The in depth insight from this analysis
has helped us to design our new sustainability plan for
2020+.
In early 2020, we will re-engage with our customers
with a new survey to assess whether and to what
extent we as a company have improved our customers’
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sustainability.
The right partner with the right sustainable solution
Customer survey
– We listen, we care, we act!
Our aim is to support our customers in safeguarding
their brands and in making the best possible
sustainability choices. Therefore, we have put a lot
of effort into ensuring that our Sales Managers and
Customer Innovation Managers can be good sparring
partners for our customers. This has been done
through training and providing the right materials
and tools to help them identify or develop the best
solutions.
Our many Customer Innovation Centers globally
have also played a key role in ensuring that the
solutions are right from a sustainability point of view
and with regards to the right functionalities for our
customers’ applications.
Anne Mette Olesen
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