Parents used to say, “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” In today’s professional world, you might say that “you’re known for the company you keep.”

And in this instance, leading food and beverage processors are known for the “companies they keep” as ingredient and material suppliers. At a time when sustainability is a growing ethical concern for shareholders and consumers, manufacturers need suppliers not only known for quality ingredients—but also traceable, sustainable supply chains.

Since 1946, PROVA SAS, Paris, France, has specialized in sweet brown flavors and extracts including vanilla, chocolate, coffee, caramel and nut-based products. Since leading with the first certified organic range of vanilla extracts in 1996, PROVA has promoted a traceable, sustainable supply chain. Specifically, PROVA’s goal has been to become a positive impact in Madagascar, the source of its vanilla raw materials.

“We are convinced of the need to transform our business model for greater sustainability within agricultural and food sectors,” says Muriel Acat, PROVA President and CEO. “We firmly believe in the need to build strong and supportive partnerships—both upstream and downstream in our value chain. We developed ‘Care&Act,’ an on-the-ground program, which means we are able to offer our customers responsibly-sourced vanilla beans, extracts, and flavors with unique tastes.”

Acat shares more about PROVA’s actions and achievements.

“In 2013, we decided to get involved in the fields of Madagascar to be as close as possible to the associations of farmers through our non-governmental organization, the Sustainable Vanilla Bemanevika,” she says. “It works in areas of education, health, nutrition, and biodiversity conservation. It was this initial experience that prompted us to extend our involvement to other associations and partner with committed exporters.

It was in 2022 that PROVA solidified its commitment and started its own “Care&Act Vanilla Program.” PROVA also began partnering with Promabio SARL, a local business in Madagascar’s Sava region, to deploy its PROVA’S Sustainable Vanilla program. Specifically, the initiative is organized around five objectives and measured by more than 50 indicators to ensure quality and traceability. PROVA’s goals relate to …

… agriculture (train farmers; educate about climate change, biodiversity; provide farm equipment),

… education (nurture children, rehabilitate schools, provide school supplies)

… healthcare (deliver clean water, provide medical supplies)

… lifestyle (promote fair wages, offer financial management training, family planning)

… environment (promote environmentally friendly practices, reforest the land)

To date, PROVA estimates that it’s touched the lives of approximately 10,000 area residents, trained more than 260 farmers, cultivated 186 sustainable acres and established a 100% traceable supply chain.

Next Up: Cocoa!

PROVA’s goal also is to extend sustainability commitments into cocoa sourcing. Specifically, PROVA’s goal to achieve 100% sustainable sourcing for the company’s cocoa line by 2030.

Acat notes that PROVA also is aware of ongoing efforts to upcycle the actual cacao fruit not used in cocoa processing for chocolate.

“This is a relatively new step of upcycling with this core raw material,” she says. “As a global key player in cocoa extracts, we work with different suppliers and are aware of these new cacao fruit initiatives.”

Upcycling, Regenerative Agriculture

Ingredient upcycling and regenerative agriculture practices are becoming better known by processors and consumers alike. PROVA likewise is looking at ways to incorporate these approaches into its own supply chain work.

“This dimension is embedded in our Care&Act philosophy and part of our global commitment,” notes Acat. “We want to have 100% of co-products valorized to optimize the lifecycle of our products.”

She shares an example.

“Vanilla bean by-products offer additional solutions to our customers in various applications. For example, once the flavor is extracted from a vanilla bean we use this ‘exhausted vanilla bean’ to produce a powder. Exhausted vanilla powder brings the appearance of a vanilla bean to products, and is most popular within ice creams, yogurts, fillings, and other applications that desire the appearance of specks, like from the vanilla bean seed. Because this product is only produced by producing vanilla extracts, our exhausted vanilla powders are sold exclusively in combination with vanilla extracts.”

PROVA likewise is aware of growing US discussions involving ingredient sourcing and regenerative agriculture practices.

“We are deeply committed to understanding what’s going on in agriculture and food technology and we want to identify long-term innovation opportunities,” she says. “Regenerative agriculture is one of the key themes that could impact our business. We recognize that vanilla, cocoa, and coffee are sensitive to climate evolution and the impact of human activities.” PF

Learn more about PROVA’s Care&Act program and sustainability commitment at https://sustainable.provaus.com/