Organisational Profile

We are the name behind the high-performance ingredients and technologies in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world; creating, making, and selling speciality chemicals that are relied on by industries and consumers everywhere.

We have four market sectors: Personal Care, Life Sciences, Performance Technologies, and Industrial Chemicals.  Within these sectors, we have nine business areas, each working in partnership with our customers to design ingredients that are manufactured globally and sold directly to our customers.

As a business-to-business organisation we strive to maintain an awareness and conformance, where appropriate, to national and local laws and voluntary codes or guidelines from entities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Commission, Cosmetics Europe, United States Environmental Protection Agency and Personal Care Products Council (formerly CTFA).

We were a signatory to the chemical industry’s voluntary agreement on the accelerated phase out of the supply and use of products for applications restricted under the EU Marketing and Use Directive, which is now incorporated into our activities under the legislation of Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances (REACh). We therefore focus our sales and marketing on offering alternatives with just small amounts being imported for merchanting purposes into allowed uses. For example, manufacturing of alkyl phenol ethoxylates in our European operations is restricted and we are actively developing and promoting alternatives to alkyl phenol ethoxylates in other regions. As a result, many customers have already moved to different products.

Our corporate headquarters are located at Cowick Hall in East Yorkshire, England.

We are a global organisation with 4,032. The strength of our research, development and manufacturing capabilities is underpinned by our global network of sales offices and technical/customer support teams.

This report covers the sustainability performance of Croda International Plc for the period 1^st January 2020 to 31^st December 2020. The scope of this report is all wholly owned operations, plus those operations where we have significant management influence due to a majority shareholding. Unless otherwise stated, data provided throughout this report is for continuing operations.

Countries of Operation*

Key: † Head Office                            ^ Manufacturing site                       *As at 31 December 2019

Croda International Plc. is a Public Limited Company; we have been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1964.

The ownership structure and major shareholders can be found in the Annual report.

The markets served by our business can be found under disclosure GRI 102-2. The revenue generated during 2020, separated by region is detailed below:

• Europe, Middle East & Africa - £562.4m

• North America – £387m

• Latin America - £131.6m
  
  
• Asia Pacific – £309.3m
  

Further, the breakdown of revenue and operating profit during 2020, separated by market sector, was as follows:

Personal Care:

• Revenue = £475.9m 
  
• Operating Profit = £136.5m
  
  

Life Sciences:

• Revenue = £401.6m
• Operating Profit = £129.4m

Performance Technologies:

• Revenue = £416.4m
  
• Operating Profit = £54m
  

Industrial Chemicals:

• Revenue = £96.4m
• Operating Profit = £0.3m 
  
  

As recorded on 31st December 2020, the Group employs 4,032 employees worldwide, with 83 operations including 19 manufacturing sites in 38 countries. Our revenue for continuing operations was £1,390.3m.

During 2020, our net sales revenue by market sector was:

• Personal Care – 40.4%

• Life Sciences – 27.8%

• Performance Technologies – 29.9%

• Industrial Chemicals – 6.9%

Net sales revenue by geographic market during 2020:

• Europe, Middle East & Africa - 40.4%

• North America - 27.8%

• Asia Pacific - 22.2%

• Latin America - 9.4%

As of 31 December 2020, total debt was £800.5 and £1,595.1m equity.

These figures apply to Croda International Plc. in its entirety.

Further information can be found on in our Annual Report.

Like all successful businesses, we recognise that our future depends on our ability to attract and retain individuals who are passionate about sustainability, personal and business growth and want to make a significant contribution to the future of our business.

Most of our business is completed by employees of the business, who are therefore not self-employed or contractors. Our employee numbers do not fluctuate significantly throughout the year due to seasonal variations. For those employees on a temporary contact, many within this group are undergraduate interns or apprentices to whom permanent employment is normally offered upon successful completion of a training period.

There are a total of 19 manufacturing sites located in Europe, North America, South America and Asia.  Each site/region has its own procurement organisation responsible for all aspects of procurement associated with acquiring all goods and services.  Specific responsibilities include identification of requirements, specifications, assessment of risks, management of tendering processes, ordering, contract award and management and monitoring of suppliers' performance.

There are sales offices and warehousing in around the world.  Sales offices source materials from the worldwide network of manufacturing sites for customers in their local markets.  The global supply chain is supported by a common SAP-based ERP processes.

During 2020, the Group acquired Avanti Polar Lipids, whose lipid-based technologies are key to new patient health applications including mRNA-based vaccines and drugs to fight COVID-19, and Iberchem, a global flavours and fragrances business, in line with our priority to deliver fast growth in emerging markets, particularly China.

These acquisitions will form part of our Life Sciences, Personal Care and Home Care business leveraging our dedicated global sales network to accelerate both acquisitions’ growth potential.

There have been no substantive changes in location of and relationships with suppliers in 2020.  However, European chemicals raw material production is continuing to migrate to other regions offering the twin benefits of lower cost production allied with fast-growing consumer markets. In order to uphold the security of supply of raw materials, European sites increasingly must look further afield for reliable sources of chemical feedstocks.

Our proactive approach to working with many external organisations, both inside and outside of our industry, saw us contributing to around 220 different bodies during 2020. Many of these relate to product, personal and process safety and regulatory affairs.

Charters

Responsible Care
We are signatories to Responsible Care®, which is the chemical industry’s global voluntary initiative through which companies, through their national associations, work together to continuously improve their health, safety and environmental performance and to communicate with stakeholders about their products and processes. The Responsible Care® ethic helps industries to operate safely, profitably and with due care for future generations. It was commended by UNEP as making a significant contribution to sustainable development at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. 

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
We have been active members of RSPO since it was established in 2004, and sit on the Derivatives Working Group. The mission of RSPO is to advance the production, procurement and use of sustainable oil palm products through the development, implementation and verification of credible global standards and the engagement of stakeholders along the supply chain. We are members of the RSPO, which collectively brings oil palm growers, oil processors, food companies, retailers, NGOs and investors to work together towards a global supply of palm oil that is produced in a socially and environmentally responsible way. The Roundtable promotes palm oil production practices that help reduce deforestation, preserve biodiversity, and respect the livelihoods of rural communities in oil-producing countries. It ensures that no new primary forest or other high conservation value areas are sacrificed for palm oil plantations, that plantations apply accepted best practices and that the basic rights and living conditions of millions of plantation workers, smallholders and indigenous people are fully respected.

12 Principles of Green Chemistry 

The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry were developed in 1991 by Paul Anastas and John C. Warner. The aim of the principles is to minimise the environmental impact of chemical products and reduce the environmental and social risks of these products. We have been using these principles since 2010 to ensure that our New Product Development follows a more sustainable and environmentally friendly path.

We are a signatory to the Responsible Care® Initiative of the chemical industry trade associations in the UK, USA, and Singapore, and more recently have endorsed the global charter agreed amongst the members of the International Council of Chemical Associations. We have also demonstrated our commitment to sustainable development by endorsing the principles developed in cooperation with stakeholders and member companies of the Chemical Industries Association.

In addition to this, we are also members of over 220 industry associations.