The increased rationalisation of biotechnological engineering leads to a decontextualised production process of many well-known flavours and fragrances, such as vanillin, patchouli and stevia. A range of sophisticated production pathways decouples the production of ingredients from the original plant. This so-called biomanufacturing is fueled by technologies such large scale sequencing and metabolic engineering which allow for the precise design of micro-organisms. Genetic traits relating to the desired substance are inserted in micro-organisms so they will convert a substrate such as sugar or even CO2 into that substance. 

However there are concerns about the sustainability claims around biomanufacturing because they are based on a very narrow concept of sustainability. The critics argue that the sustainable production of aromas and flavours such as vanillin or patchouli comes to fruition best in an agroecological practice that also benefits economically vulnerable smallholders. The biomanufacturing pathways are seen as a threat to such agroecological practices because they often rely on feedstock in the form of sugars that require land and are most efficiently produced in monocultures. In this way, decontextualised production methods risk downgrading biodiversity. 

Moreover, there are concerns about the economic justice of exploiting genetic resources. Many of the genetic sources used to produce synthetic fragrances, flavours and medicine originate from the Global South, where they have sometimes been cultivated for centuries by local communities and indigenous peoples before western scientist discovered them. According to the stipulations of the international Convention on Biodiversity, benefits derived from genetic resources have to be shared with the countries and communities from which they originate. This can be considered a historical reparation of economic justice against the backdrop of colonial prospecting of biological materials. 

The decontextualization of the production of many substances complicates the allocation of roles and responsibilities for resolving these issues. It becomes more difficult to establish the responsibilities of companies because they do not necessarily have any direct relation to the physical origin of their products. In this paper, we discuss the question of how to assign responsibilities for sustainability, economic justice and biodiversity for companies operating in the field of biomanufacturing. We will analyse these responsibilities with reference to two cases: the stevia and the vanillin case.