“With Carbon Maps, we’ve replaced time-consuming manual processes with a structured digital system that gives us real-time insight into our suppliers’ sustainability maturity. It has made our supplier engagement more consistent, more meaningful, and better aligned with evolving regulatory demands."
— Ariane Jacoberger, Sustainability and Social Impact Manager, Solinest
Founded in 1931, Solinest began as a family-run confectionery wholesaler in Alsace. Nearly a century later, it has grown into a leading European distributor of consumer goods, managing iconic brands like Ricola, Kellogg’s, Pringles, Starbucks, and Werther’s Original. With €400 million in annual revenue and 550 employees, Solinest is now a key player in the FMCG sector across France, Belgium, Germany, and beyond.
Solinest’s evolution has been shaped by continuous reinvention. In the early 2010s, the company moved beyond sweets, expanding into refrigerated drinks, savory snacks, and frozen goods, supported by a mutualized logistics system that allowed it to grow across multiple in-store categories, not just impulse buys.
Alongside brand distribution, Solinest has also become a brand builder. It launched [N.A!] (Nature Addicts), a line of fruit-based snacks that helped the company break into the healthy snacking space and expand internationally, with a presence in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the UK, and the US.
Solinest’s first turning point came during their Corporate Carbon Footprint analysis with Carbon Maps, which revealed a striking insight: 99.2% of their emissions were Scope 3, originating not from their own operations, but from upstream suppliers and logistics providers.
For a food distributor, this wasn’t surprising, but it made one thing clear: reducing emissions would be impossible without supplier action.
While the numbers were clear, the path forward wasn’t. Supplier engagement remained largely manual, fragmented, and handled only when clients requested information, with no consistency across teams.
“Before working with Carbon Maps, we didn’t have any systematic assessment. It was all ad hoc, sending emails only when a client asked. It was time-consuming, inefficient, and honestly, stressful for the team,” she added.
Solinest’s sustainability team faced recurring roadblocks:
At the same time, external pressure was rising. CSRD deadlines were approaching, and clients were asking tougher questions, not just for carbon footprint data. Solinest wanted to know what their suppliers were doing and what progress looked like.
Although Solinest had already mapped their Scope 1 to 3 emissions and identified hotspots, there was still a critical gap: a clear understanding of their suppliers’ maturity levels regarding sustainability topics and whether those suppliers were equipped to support reduction efforts.
“We were far from having a foundation for collaboration or a shared sustainability strategy,” Ariane noted. “Everyone was working a bit on their own, which wasn’t very efficient.”
That’s when Solinest decided to move beyond one-off requests and build a more scalable approach using the Carbon Maps platform. One built on automation, structured data, and meaningful supplier value to drive long-term engagement.
Once Solinest had a clearer picture of its Scope 3 footprint, the team knew it needed a more structured way to engage suppliers, not just to collect data, but to strengthen collaboration and achieve real progress.
They partnered with Carbon Maps to automate and streamline their supplier sustainability assessments using the Supplier Assessment feature. The rollout followed two key phases:
The first step was co-building a system that reflected Solinest’s operational reality and sustainability goals. Rather than relying on a standard template, Solinest and Carbon Maps collaborated on:
The team developed questionnaires tailored to Solinest’s business and the types of questions clients typically ask.
“We were able to customize the questionnaires to match what our clients ask us. That way, when we collect information from suppliers, we’re also gathering the data we need to respond to client requests more efficiently.”— Ariane Jacoberger
This not only saved time internally but also created double-sided value: suppliers had an opportunity to highlight their initiatives, and Solinest could more easily showcase supplier efforts to retailers and clients.
Carbon Maps didn’t just collect data, it contextualized it. The team worked with Solinest to co-develop an advanced scoring system that took into account:
The result was a fair, nuanced ranking system that supported strategic planning, not just a pass/fail checklist.
“It’s important to keep in mind that not all suppliers are at the same stage, and some smaller ones don’t have the resources to formalize their actions yet. The scoring system reflects that, which made it easier to identify who needs support,” explained Ariane.
To embed the new process, Solinest rolled it out across all 9 business units, creating shared ownership and consistency.
This first phase laid the foundation for a process that was both scalable and supplier-friendly, without compromising on the depth of insight.
Once the framework was in place, Solinest launched its first assessment campaign through the Carbon Maps platform. They achieved a 50% participation rate in the first round, a strong result for a first campaign, especially given the diversity of supplier maturity levels.
Key features of the automated process included:
“It was the first time we had such an easy, global view of our suppliers’ maturity. Some were very advanced, others just starting out, but now we could see that clearly.”
— Ariane Jacoberger.
The first assessment campaign achieved a 50% response rate. This provided a solid baseline and validated the questionnaire design and rollout approach.
Thanks to Carbon Maps’ dashboard, Solinest could instantly see:
This allowed Solinest to focus its efforts strategically without manual tracking.
The maturity scores now serve multiple purposes:
Ariane shared that a brand Solinest is launching will be featured at a retailer’s fair without a signed commercial agreement because its strong CSR score stood out. This early recognition is helping Solinest build brand awareness.
The assessment moved beyond compliance and data collection. It became a catalyst for joint action. Solinest and its suppliers were able to identify shared priorities and collaborate on tangible initiatives.
For example, insights from the assessment helped launch a transport emissions reduction project with one supplier, setting a precedent for future partnerships.
As Ariane put it, the results "opened the door" to conversations that weren’t happening before.
The new process aligned internal teams and gave suppliers clearer expectations. It also helped standardize responses to incoming client assessments, using up-to-date and verified data.
“Before, we were responding to the same client questions again and again,” Ariane said. “Everyone was doing it their own way. Now it’s structured and much more efficient.”
Solinest’s collaboration with Carbon Maps has turned supplier assessments from an administrative burden into a structured way to drive real progress with suppliers.
Today, Solinest doesn’t just know where its suppliers stand, it has a framework to support them, challenge them, and collaborate with them.
With this structured, insight-driven approach, Solinest is better equipped to meet growing client expectations, respond to evolving regulations, and work hand-in-hand with its network to build a more sustainable food system.
Carbon Maps gives you the structure, insight, and tools to make it happen.
Book a demo to see how it works.
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