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Foodbuy SES Supplier Spotlight: Diversey

Foodbuy has a vast network of supplier partners that help us support our Members. These partners supply everything from convection ovens to linen service to smallwares. We will periodically feature supplier partners, and this month we are pleased to showcase Foodbuy Supplier Diversey.

Diversey’s mission is to protect and care for people through leading hygiene, infection prevention, and cleaning solutions. We spoke with Jim Marks, VP of Food Service, Hospitality and Retail to talk about how Diversey supports our Members.

What products and services does your company provide?

Diversey is a provider of cleaning, sanitation and maintenance products, systems and services that efficiently integrate chemicals, machines and sustainability programs. We constantly seek to deliver revolutionary cleaning and hygiene technologies that provide total confidence to customers across all our sectors. These include facility management, health care, hospitality, retail and food service; in addition to food and beverage.

Where are you based and how did your company get started?

Diversey is headquartered in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Diversey Corporation was founded in Chicago in 1923 by August and Herbert Kochs as a division of their Victor Chemical Works cleaning products company. The Kochs wanted to give their new organization a name that “would not limit them, one that had no connotation, and did not mean a thing”. They discussed this while lunching at a restaurant on Diversey Avenue in Chicago. When the elder Kochs looked out at the street sign, he had his name.

How do you bring value to Foodbuy Members?

Diversey provides a best-in-class and optimized program for Food Service.

  • Cost reduction of total cleaning chemicals spend
  • Service Excellence Program
  • Service levels based on site size and complexity, reported monthly
  • 5-Star service program
  • Salaried service employees
  • Simplification the number of products used
  • Greater than 60% SKU count reduction
  • Innovation with Internet of Clean, J-Fill & Revoflow
  • Lease Dish Machine program

Describe the steps your company is taking to improve sustainability.

Diversey’s sustainability strategy is called “Facilitators for Life”. This is comprised of 12 goals across three different pillars: Social Responsibility, Environmental Stewardship, and Sustainable Innovations. It follows the classic sustainability triple bottom line model of people, planet and profit. Instead of talking about profit, we really talk about our products and technologies and the value that they bring to our customers and the industry.

Our goals on the environmental side focuses on our supply chain, and we have a reduction target of 10% for greenhouse gas, energy, and waste. We also have a goal around engaging our suppliers on sustainability with a supplier code of conduct that addresses safety, environmental issues, and governance, which helps us ensure our suppliers are following the best international practices as it relates to environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

When we think about our industry, we think of our products and services and the sustainability value that we can bring to the marketplace. We have targets focused on product stewardship, such as our goal to reduce our packaging footprint and to ensure responsible use of chemicals. Diversey wants to make sure that we are not using chemicals of concern that are going to be unsafe for our customers, unsafe for building occupants, or even unsafe for our employees.

We use a sustainability scorecard for all our innovations. Every new product that we’ve launched as a company utilizes a method to identify sustainability opportunities. Even if sustainability is not the key driver for an innovation, we often find ways to improve sustainability across the lifecycle of our innovations.

What are you most looking forward to in 2022?

Like many companies, Diversey looks forward to a return to normalcy and continued growth with Foodbuy Members. We are committed to helping Compass reopen in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective manner.