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  4. Promoting Sustainable and Responsible Procurement

Promoting Sustainable and Responsible Procurement

At Shiseido, we utilize the world’s natural resources to develop products and operate our business. We understand these resources are limited, and as such, we place the utmost importance on the sustainable and responsible procurement of raw materials at every stage of the supply chain. This includes the reduction and reuse of resources from the perspective of environmental protection, biodiversity, and in support of a circular economy. In all our activities, we also work to address and strengthen our response to other sustainability issues, such as human rights.

Procurement of Raw Materials

Raw material production can lead to environmental damage and violation of human rights. Moreover, the production of some raw materials, such as palm oil and paper, can significantly impact biodiversity. Therefore, it is important for companies to procure materials that are produced under sustainable conditions.
In 2020, we published our medium-term targets for the sustainable procurement of palm oil and paper, and we are currently in the process of switching to more sustainable raw materials. We are also strengthening our efforts to solve issues related to the mining of mica. By clarifying our own procurement policy and building a support system in collaboration with other companies, we aim to create positive change in the mica mining industry.

Biodiversity

Shiseido’s business activities rely on nature’s rich biodiversity. In recent years, many scientists and non-governmental organizations have warned of rapid biodiversity loss. As a result, from both a species conservation and sustainable business perspective, companies are being called upon to engage in biodiversity conservation activities. They are also encouraged to ensure transparent information disclosure regarding the impact of their activities on the natural environment.

At Shiseido, we use the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures’ (TNFD) framework to analyze risks and opportunities around our dependence and impact on nature. The results of these analyses have shown that palm oil-derived raw materials and paper have a significant impact on biodiversity on land. Therefore, we support zero deforestation for palm oil and paper, and strive to minimize negative impact by switching to certified and recycled raw materials.

We understand that recovering and regenerating biodiversity is essential, and we will continue to contribute so that business and a diverse natural environment can exist in harmony.

Biodiversity Conservation Activities

Shiseido engages in a wide range of biodiversity protection activities through many of its brands and business operations in regions. Since 2019, brand SHISEIDO has been a Global Sustainability Partner for the global surfing organization’s World Surf League. To create even more beautiful oceans, the brand promotes marine protection initiatives and is engaged in educational activities. In 2021, the brand also delivered the We Are One Ocean*1 petition, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, to the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity.

  1. *1:WSL(World Surf League), a global surfing organization, WSL PURE, a non-profit organization of WSL, and brand SHISEIDO, in response to the draft of the conservation target to be achieved by 2030 set by the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, will engage in activities aimed at communicating marine environmental conservation to people around the world with the aim of realizing more beautiful oceans.

In Japan in 2022, we began nature conservation activities on Mt. Ibuki*2, an area where medicinal herbs have been cultivated for centuries. In addition to opening our own medicinal herb garden and cultivating herbs, we are working alongside the Reiho Ibukiyama Association–which works to protect the nature around the mountain–to restore vegetation and preserve the abundant nature in the mountain’s foothills.

  1. *2:A semi-independent peak among the Ibuki Mountains, which connect Maibara City in Shiga Prefecture and the Ibi/Fuwa districts in Gifu Prefecture. 1,377meters high and one of the 100 famous Japanese Mountains.

Bees play an important role in the pollination of crops. There are concerns around the declining population of honeybees. So our Val de Loire and Gien factories in France have incorporated the protection of honeybees and the conservation of ecosystems into their sustainability plans. As well as setting up beehives onsite, both factories prohibit the use of agrochemicals on factory grounds. In 2022, the factories’ beehives produced around 167 kg of honey.

Palm oil

  1. *1:Raw materials certified by RSPO's physical supply chain method
  2. *2:The Fukuoka Kurume factory (Japan), which began operations in 2022, will be RSPO certified in 2024.
  3. *3:Japan Sustainable Palm oil Network
  4. *4:An international industry group consisting of manufacturers and retailers from the food and consumer goods industries.
  5. *5:A fund that uses donations from Shiseido employees and alumni to support the activities of NPOs and NGOs working to tackle social issues.
  6. *6:World Wildlife Fund for Nature.
RSPO, Jonathan Perugia

RSPO, Jonathan Perugia

RSPO

Paper

As part of our strategic action to use resources responsibly and reduce our use of single-use plastics, we actively promote the use of paper for secondary packaging, such as folding cartons. However, there are environmental issues associated with the production of raw materials for paper, such as deforestation and loss of biodiversity, as well as human rights issues. Therefore, sustainable and responsible procurement is essential. Our goal is to use* 100% sustainable paper by 2023. In 2022, we achieved a 97% (weight) shift.

Cosmetics packaging must meet various expectations and standards. It should be sophisticated and beautiful, but also sustainable in its design and strong enough to protect the cosmetics inside. In collaboration with paper manufacturers, we are developing innovative paper packaging solutions that meet and exceed these expectations. We are also switching to sustainable paper in our offices and for promotional materials, such as product displays, bags, and leaflets.

  1. *Amount of materials used in 2022: 2,700t

Mica

Due to its light-reflecting properties and excellent heat resistance, mica is used in a wide range of industries, including cosmetics. In 2017, Shiseido joined the Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI), which aims to eliminate child labor and forced labor at Indian mica mining sites to establish Indian mica as a sustainably produced raw material.

In collaboration with non-governmental organizations and the Indian Government, RMI had implemented community empowerment programs in 180 villages by the end of 2022. The community empowerment program are helping to improve their incomes and livelihoods. The program supports activities such as improving access to safe drinking water and medical facilities of around 16,500 households - including 92,000 people in mica-dependent communities.
We will continue to strive to procure mica sourced from producers with no social responsibility issues.

Responsible Mica Initiative

Responsible Mica Initiative

Responsible Mica Initiative

Supplier Assessment Program

Ethical Supply Chain Policies and Standards

At Shiseido, we strive to grow our business as well as stimulate the growth of the societies in which we work. But we want this growth to be sustainable and responsible. In all our activities, we seek ways to prevent human rights problems and preserve the environment.

In recent years, as social and environmental issues have become more serious, companies are strongly urged to not only comply with the laws and regulations of each country, but also respect international treaties and conventions and work toward the realization of a sustainable society and world throughout their supply chains. To this end, Shiseido has established standards and policies for procurement.

We have issued the Shiseido Group Supplier Code of Conduct and the Shiseido Group Procurement Policy and conduct supplier assessments and monitoring on a regular basis to ensure an ethical supply chain. In addition, the Shiseido Group Sustainable Raw Materials Procurement Guidelines have been enforced across the Group to ensure the procurement of sustainable raw materials (e.g., palm oil and paper) on a global scale.

We strive to share and resolve issues with our stakeholders and liaise with wide-ranging experts such as international human rights experts and people working in raw material producing regions to make sure our actions always rely on expert knowledge.

Shiseido Group Procurement Policy

Our procurement policy is to respect all our suppliers as well as ensure sustainable procurement taking society and the environment into account. This is because we aim to provide safe products with high quality which satisfy our customers.

We state a policy to create social value with suppliers in addition to economic one such as cost and quality. We define social value as fair transactions, compliance with laws and regulations, respecting different cultures and set of values, respecting human rights and protection of the environment.

To actively promote more sustainable and responsible procurement together with our suppliers, we revised the policy and announced it in February 2022. In the new Procurement Policy, we formulated requirements for our suppliers regarding the environment and human rights as well as introducing a strict, objective risk identification and correction process through third-party audits, clearly stating that we will evaluate our suppliers from the perspective of sustainability.

Shiseido Group Procurement Policy[ PDF : 524KB ]

Shiseido Group Supplier Code of Conduct

We joined The United Nations Global Compact and took this opportunity to establish the Shiseido Group Supplier Code of Conduct. This code of conduct articulates norms related to human rights, compliance with laws and regulations, labor practices, protection of intellectual properties, protection of confidentiality, protection of the environment and fair transactions. We request all suppliers who have transactions with us to comply with these standards.
To ensure sustainable procurement together with our suppliers, we regularly conduct supplier assessment and the supplier assessment program, which includes corrective actions after the assessment.
In the event that any supplier is identified to have violated the code of conduct, they are requested to implement corrective actions, and we support and educate them.

Shiseido Group Supplier Code of Conduct (Issued in Jun 2019)[ PDF : 876KB ]

Shiseido Group Sustainable Raw Materials Procurement Guidelines

We take actions to resolve issues of raw materials that are determined to have a high probability of serious environmental and human rights issues in the country of origin, such as switching to materials with third party certification of zero involvement and joining international initiatives.

In particular, palm oil-derived raw materials, paper and mica cause deforestation and labor issues which have been frequently revisited. Therefore, we announced targets and measures to resolve the issues and set out a guideline to ensure sustainable procurement.

Shiseido Group Sustainable Raw Materials Procurement Guidelines[ PDF : 186KB ]

Overview of our Suppliers and Purchasing Commodities

Purchasing Commodities

Items to be purchased include direct materials such as raw materials and packaging for our products, sales support tools, OEM products and contract manufacturing goods.

Overview of Our Suppliers

Our relationship with our suppliers is based on the following philosophies stated in the Shiseido Group Procurement Policy: “Building a Good Partnership,” “Fair Purchasing Transactions,” “Performance of contract”, “Promoting sustainable procurement”, and “Respecting diverse values”.
We purchase materials for our products from over 889 suppliers*1,*2 spanning countries and regions.

  1. *1:Companies belonging to the same corporate group are counted as one supplier. (Tier 1 suppliers only)
  2. *2:Each company is counted only once even if it appears in more than one category.

Suppliers by Region/Category

Identification of Strategic Suppliers

We identify strategic suppliers once a year by the following process

Identification of Strategic Suppliers

Number of strategic suppliers


Suppliers
Tier1 23
Non-Tier 1 5
Total 28

Process for new suppliers to start business with Shiseido

Process for new suppliers to start business with Shiseido

Supplier Assessment Program

Our aim is to create a sustainable supply chain built on responsible procurement and to minimize risk across the entire supply chain. To do so, we are promoting the implementation of a supplier assessment program.

At Shiseido, we implement the program based on the Shiseido Group Procurement Policy which was revised in 2022. We don’t work with suppliers, if they are categorized as high-risk by the assessment and don’t correct non-conformances identified by audits.

For new suppliers, we conduct a self-assessment*1 from the perspective of sustainability (human rights, occupational health and safety, environment, and business ethics) using either EcoVadis , Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange), or our original Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). We start business with new suppliers after conducting supplier assessment, confirming that they are not high-risk and then agree to the Shiseido Group Supplier Code of Conduct.

For existing suppliers, we continuously confirm compliance with the Shiseido Group Supplier Code of Conduct using the above assessments. We categorize suppliers into three groups according to the degree of risk: low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk. If a supplier is categorized as high-risk, we conduct third-party audits.

We screen significant suppliers based on their degree of risk and importance to our business to prioritize assessments.
The screening process considers the risks of suppliers (ESG risks, risks specific to country, industry, commodity), spend, QCDST*2 performance, etc.

Supplier Assessment Program

Based on self-assessment results, we categorize suppliers into three groups according to the degree of risk: low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk. If a supplier is categorized as high-risk, we conduct third-party audits.*3

Additionally, we give all suppliers feedback on the results either face-to-face or on-line, and, if necessary, our employees visit the suppliers’ sites to discuss improvements in their ESG performances.

During third-party audits, employee interviews and verification of required documentation are conducted. High-risk suppliers are then requested to implement corrective action plans, and in the event of critical non-conformance, we conduct further third-party audits to confirm correction status. If issues are not corrected within a set period, we consider suspension of business.

  1. *1:Please refer to the below table for the details of self-assessment tools.
Tool Explanation (main criteria etc.)
EcoVadis

Measure the quality of a company’s ESG management system through its policies, actions and results.
The assessment focuses on sustainability criteria that are grouped into four themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement.

The questionnaire is customized according to industry type, location, company size, and the scale of the respondent. Supporting documents are required when submitting answers.

Sedex

Evaluate suppliers by the questionnaires based on labor standards, health and safety and business ethics. The number of questions vary depending on industries

The level of risk is calculated based on the answers to the questionnaire. Country and sector specific risks are also considered.

Shiseido SAQ(Self-Assessment Questionnaire) Based on the Shiseido Group Supplier Code of Conduct. Evaluate suppliers from four perspective: human rights and labor, occupational health and safety, the environment and business ethics.
  1. *2:Quality, Cost, Delivery, Service, Technology
  2. *3:WCA audit (a third-party audit company, Intertek’s sustainability audit program), SMETA audit (audit program designed and managed by Sedex), and others

Results:

Activities in 2022

In 2022, we defined our scope of the assessment program based on suppliers’ risk level and the importance of suppliers. In total, we conducted our supplier assessment program for 72 suppliers globally (28 strategic suppliers and 44 high-risk suppliers as of the end of 2021).

Ten of these suppliers were identified as high-risk suppliers in the self-assessment.

  • We gave feedback on the result and advice on corrective action plans to all 10 suppliers.
  • For some of them, we corrected their issues through third-party audits; for the rest, we reallocated business with them. As a result, we reduced the number of high-risk suppliers to zero.

Breakdown of Suppliers Assessed in 2022

Tier 1 Suppliers 67*1
Tier 2 Strategic Suppliers 5
  1. *1:Equivalent to 37% of the spend raised in 2022.

Status of Remediation of High-Risk Suppliers

Year of Assessment No. of High-Risk Suppliers(at end of fiscal year)
2020 132
2021 44
2022 0

(KPI1) % of suppliers assessed (number of Tier 1 suppliers)

Year 2020 2021 2022 2023
Results Results Results Target Target
% of suppliers assessed(number of suppliers assessed)*1 94%(791) 97%(279) 100%(67) 100% 100%
Geographical scope All Regions Global headquarter and EMEA Regional headquarter All Regions All Regions
  1. *1:% of suppliers assessed = number of suppliers assessed / total number of suppliers in scope of assessment

(KPI2) % of strategic suppliers assessed(number of Tier 1 suppliers)*1

Year 2020 Results 2021 Results 2022 Results 2023(Target)
% of strategic suppliers assessed (number of suppliers assessed) 96%(239) 100%(17)*2 100%(23) 100%
  • *1:Geographical scope is the same as KPI.
  • *2:We revised the definition of strategic suppliers in 2021. We regularly revisit the definition, considering business environment and strategies.

Issues of high-risk suppliers found through third-party audits

Area Examples of issues Examples of corrective actions
Human rights No training or education related to Harassment was provided to employees. Harassment training for all employees was conducted.
Occupational health and safety Chemical substances were stored in inappropriate places. Chemical substances were put in fire-resistant boxes.
A hand sanitizer in a first aid box was past its expiry date. An unexpired hand sanitizer was put in the first aid box.
There were objects in front of an emergency exit. The objects were removed.
Machines were not inspected regularly. A check list was made for inspection and regular inspections were started.
Environment There were not enough pollution control managers. Additional pollution control managers were appointed.
Business ethics No relevance issues found

Partnership with suppliers

Information session on our concept of procurement

To keep pace with the changing times and respond to social requirements, Shiseido considers it important to communicate our concept of procurement with business partners in a timely and accurate manner.
Therefore, with the aim of widespread dissemination of the procurement policy, the procurement departments in the Global Headquarters and China Regional Headquarters hold an annual Supplier's Day to share purchasing activities and strategies with suppliers.
Taking this opportunity, our Global Headquarters procurement department promulgates Shiseido’s procurement policy, various tasks, and requests in the fields of raw materials, packaging, and indirect materials, and responds to questions and requests from business partners.

Shiseido Supplier’s Day

In 2021, we held our global online event, Shiseido Supplier’s Day for the first time. Top management of direct material and OEM suppliers participated in the event. We used this opportunity to share our medium-term management strategy, procurement policies, and expectations.

We also explained our mid-term sustainability targets and actions, as well as our expectations of suppliers in terms of human rights, environment, and society and asked for their understanding and cooperation.

Global Purchasing Collaboration and Education for Buyers

Global purchasing collaboration

We regularly host meetings with procurement leaders from each of our global facilities. In the meetings, we discuss important policies such as sustainability and strategies and make efforts to collaborate closely at a global level.

In addition, once per year, we host the Shiseido International Procurement Meeting (SIPM) attended by procurement leaders from each of our global facilities. We also promote the global implementation of sustainability activities through this meeting. Onsite SIPMs were not held from FY2020 to FY2022 due to COVID-19. However, in 2023, a meeting was held in Tokyo in February.

Global purchasing collaboration

Education for buyers

To ensure sustainable and responsible procurement throughout the company, we proactively provide education on relevant issues mainly to staff members of procurement departments.

Education provided for members of procurement department

Date Theme Participants
May, October 2020 Opportunities and challenges in sustainability (internal seminar) EMEA Regional Headquarters:
Procurement department
November 2020 RSPO and RSPO certified products (internal seminar) Global Headquarters: Buyers in charge of procurement of palm oil
December 2020 Trends in responsible procurement and supplier assessment (external lecturer) Global Headquarters and China Regional Headquarters: Buyers in charge of supplier assessment
September 2021 Online seminar about management of sustainable supply chain Global Headquarters: Staff in charge of Sustainability
November 2021 Online Seminar held by Sedex Global Headquarters: Staff in charge of Sustainability
November 2021 Internal seminar about sustainability ratings Global Headquarters: Procurement department
February 2022 Internal explanatory meeting about Shiseido Group Procurement Policy All regions:Procurement department
September 2022 EcoVadis buyer training Global headquarters, China Regional headquarters Affiliate in APAC Regional headquarters, Americas Regional headquarters:Procurement department
October 2022 EcoVadis program kickoff* All regions:Procurement department
  • *We held a global meeting to confirm the purpose of supplier assessment, KPIs, and the roles and responsibilities of employees in charge of the assessment.

Programs to improve ESG performance of suppliers

Shiseido carries out the following programs periodically to increase the ESG performance of its suppliers.

Item Target Details
Explanation of Shiseido Group Procurement Policy All suppliers
  • We distribute videos about the Shiseido Group Procurement Policy and the assessment program. Additionally, buyers provide explanations to suppliers via online or face-to-face meetings, when necessary.
  • We provide new suppliers with explanations before conducting self-assessments.
  • We provided explanations to all our existing suppliers when we revised the policy in February 2022.
Feedback on self-assessment results All suppliers
  • We give feedback on the self-assessment results to suppliers.
  • The feedback includes benchmark data.
  • We support high-risk suppliers by recommending concrete corrective actions, etc.
E-learning
(EcoVadis Academy)
Strategic suppliers
  • We recommend that suppliers take part in EcoVadis Academy, an e-learning program for suppliers that have already become EcoVadis members.

In addition, we have recently held the following explanatory meetings and seminars. We are working out a plan to enable us to provide more suppliers with training programs.

Item Target Details
EcoVadis explanatory meeting(2021―2022) All suppliers
  • We held an explanatory meeting jointly with EcoVadis to explain our reasons for using EcoVadis, the EcoVadis rating methodology, benefits of being a member, the response process, and other matters.
CDP explanatory meeting
(May 2023)
Suppliers in Japan
  • We held a meeting together with CDP to explain how to respond to the CDP questionnaire and improve the suppliers‘ environmental performance.
 

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