The International Federation of Essential Oils and Aroma Trades' (IFEAT) 2026 Sustainability Awards People’s Choice Award nominees spotlight a new wave of innovation in renewable feedstocks, circular chemistry, regenerative farming and ethical sourcing.
This includes everything from turning potato-processing waste into aroma chemicals to producing vanillin from wood, restoring native flowers and creating new economic incentives to protect forests.
The 12 projects nominated reveal how companies across the global supply chain are tackling the environmental and social challenges behind the ingredients used in flavors, fragrances and essential oils.
Before we dig into the individual nominees, a word about the nomination process:
- IFEAT’s evaluation framework allocates 35% of its scoring to environmental impact, 35% to socioeconomic benefits, 20% to scalability and replicability, and 10% to engagement. Applications were assessed through a methodology developed by sustainability consultancy Quantis, with shortlisted projects reviewed by an independent expert jury. The People’s Choice winner is determined separately by conference delegates voting through the IFEAT conference app. Winners will be announced soon.
Waste becomes a resource
Some of the most striking innovations involve finding new uses for existing resources.
Dutch biotechnology company ChainCraft, with its SensiCraft project, is turning potato juice left over from starch production into renewable fatty acids for flavor and fragrance applications. Its planned full-scale facility is designed to process 300,000 tonnes of potato juice and produce 20,000 tonnes of renewable fatty acids annually.
The approach could offer alternatives to conventional fossil-based chemicals and selected palm- and coconut-derived feedstocks, while creating additional value from an established food-processing stream.
Norwegian biorefinery specialist Borregaard is pursuing a different route to renewable chemistry. Its EuroVanillin Supreme is made from spruce sourced from PEFC-certified forests. IFEAT reports approximately 90% lower CO₂ emissions than guaiacol-based fossil vanillin, offering a potential lower-carbon alternative without requiring a change to the ingredient’s end-use function.
Together, the projects illustrate a growing opportunity for the sector: replace conventional chemical inputs with renewable carbon while making better use of existing resources.
Rethinking how natural ingredients are made
Sustainability innovation is also reaching the extraction stage.
IFF’s Conscious Collection, developed through its LMR Naturals business, uses a plant-based extraction solvent and an approach involving upcycled, natural and renewable CO₂. The objective is to reduce reliance on conventional petrochemical solvents while preserving the sensory complexity of natural extracts. IFEAT says the approaches have enabled the first COSMOS-approved absolutes.
Elsewhere, Main Camp WA is integrating renewable energy and resource efficiency into essential-oil production in Western Australia. Its approximately 250 hectares of Eucalyptus polybractea combine onsite wind power, precision irrigation, biomass recycling and livestock grazing.
The message is clear: the sustainability credentials of an ingredient depend not only on what it is made from, but also on the energy, water and processing inputs required to produce it.
Regenerative farming meets supply-chain resilience
Several nominees are demonstrating that better agricultural practices can strengthen both environmental performance and long-term access to botanical raw materials.
India’s Plant Lipids, through its Nurture 360 Chilli Program, works with more than 15,000 farming families. IFEAT reports $53.5 million paid directly to farmers over four seasons and a 22% increase in soil organic carbon recorded by two government laboratories. The program combines regenerative farming incentives with integrated pest management and rapid payments.
In Indonesia, PT Jutarasa Abadi grows patchouli beneath young cinnamon trees, generating interim income while cinnamon matures. Residual cinnamon trunks are used as distillation fuel, while the intercrop provides ground cover and helps retain soil on steep slopes.
In India, Synthite’s SENS program is restoring Naatu Sampangi, a native single-petal tuberose. The initiative covers 92 acres and involves 187 smallholder farmers, with more than one-third of participating farms women-led. IFEAT reports 30% fewer agricultural inputs, alongside regular electronic payments and living-income benchmarking.
Spain’s Zalabí is taking a related approach with Mediterranean aromatic crops, combining organic and regenerative farming with precision irrigation, renewable energy and circular distillation.
These projects highlight a critical business consideration: resilient feedstock supply increasingly depends on healthy soils, efficient water use, crop diversity and viable farm incomes.
Water moves up the sustainability agenda
Water stewardship is another prominent theme.
Indonesian ingredient producer PT Indesso Aroma reports almost 30% lower water intensity across three manufacturing sites through wastewater recycling and rainwater harvesting. Treatment sludge is converted into compost, while the company has helped approximately 300 patchouli farmers in Southeast Sulawesi build rainwater ponds to improve dry-season water access.
The project connects factory efficiency with agricultural resilience—an increasingly important consideration as water stress threatens supply chains in vulnerable growing regions.
Protecting biodiversity while sharing the value
Other nominees focus on the relationship between natural resources, community livelihoods and ethical sourcing.
Vinasamex, in northern Vietnam, has developed a traceable organic cinnamon supply chain involving Tày, H’Mông and Dao communities. IFEAT reports that women represent around 80% of participants and hold approximately 70% of farmer-group leadership roles.
In South Africa, Berje’s buchu program combines cultivation with biodiversity protection and formal access-and-benefit-sharing arrangements involving the National Khoi and San Council and the South African San Council. The initiative aims to reduce pressure on wild plants while ensuring that Indigenous communities share in the benefits derived from the resource.
Avilan, operating in Venezuela’s Bolívar-Amazonas region, sources tonka beans through local collection networks, using fallen fruit and leaving trees standing. Its FairWild-certified operation has reportedly increased harvester income approximately 12-fold since 2020. Purchases of angostura bark help extend income opportunities beyond the short tonka season.
These approaches show how ethical sourcing can move beyond certification towards more durable economic relationships, where local communities have a tangible stake in maintaining the natural resources on which ingredient supply depends.
