Kiwi brands and retailers

In October 2007 we asked 20 New Zealand retailers what they were doing to improve labour standards and environmental practices in their supply chains. We got only 5 replies. Nine months later we revisited those 5 to see how they had improved manufacturing processes. Details are noted below.

We asked British magazine 'Ethical Consumer' what they thought of the low response to our survey:

"What are retailers saying if they refuse to engage with their stakeholders (that includes their customers) by not giving info when it's requested? It's disrespectful of their customers and obstructive of efforts to create change for the better."

The companies that responded:

Icebreaker

Icebreaker provided a good outline of its efforts to make sure manufacturing processes were ethical. This information is available on its website. A short documentary on Icebreaker's supply chain is also available on the website.

We say

From the information Icebreaker gave us about its monitoring of environmental and labour standards, a garment bought from Icebreaker should qualify as a piece of ethical clothing. Icebreaker wants to launch a "traceability" system in 2008, where a consumer will be able to trace individual garments back to their original sheep station. We hope Icebreaker includes in the system the name and address of the Chinese factory where the garment is made.

September 2008 update

Icebreaker released its traceability system as promised. The "baa-code" allows you to trace the creation of your Icebreaker garment through the manufacturing process (in China) to the merino station where the wool was sourced. The system works because Icebreaker is able to keep track of merino wool batches through its supply chain. You can type the number into the company website to see how your garment was made.

The Warehouse

The Warehouse publishes a reasonably candid report about ethical standards in its supply chain. The 2007 report is available online at www.thewarehouse.co.nz. In addition, The Warehouse also let us interview sustainability manager Trevor Johnston.

We say

The Warehouse's supply chain is large and complex - much like a major international retailer.

The Warehouse uses many of the same corporate-responsibility systems practised overseas. It publishes online a set of workplace standards, employs international auditors (for factories that produce goods solely for The Warehouse) and so on. But its size makes it difficult to audit the entire supply chain.

Trevor Johnston says: "Of course there will be factories unknown to us that don't meet our standards and conversely those that do. We try to minimise the risk by focusing on larger factories where we have both influence and exposure."

September 2008 update

The Warehouse is about to publish its "Society and Environment Report". In it, you'll find The Warehouse audited 111 factories in 2008. It now has a pool of over 250 audited source factories. Fifteen factories were struck off in the last year for failing to meet the retailer's labour standards. The Warehouse also dabbled in a line of organic cotton T-shirts - they should be available again this summer.

Postie+

Postie+ provided a small amount of information about its efforts to improve labour practices in its supply chain.

We say

Postie+ is considering more ethical practices - including an audit programme of its supply chain - in the coming year. It could start by approaching organisations like Oxfam and the Sustainable Business Network for advice. Working alongside independent non-governmental organisations is one benchmark for ethical trading standards.

September 2008 update

Postie+ has an audit process in place: factories in the supply chain are visited at least every two years. Postie+ recently developed "terms and conditions of trade" as well as a quality-assurance manual. Both documents set out the company's stance on labour standards. That's a start: Postie+ will be putting its new standards online.

Esprit

Esprit provided brief answers to most of our questions.

We say

Esprit runs two environmental compliance programmes. One programme is based on local environmental standards and is worth very little in our opinion; the other is much better because it monitors environmental standards to ISO14000 - a recognised international standard.

Esprit's membership in the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) - and its refusal to source clothing from Burma - offers assurances that labour rights are respected in its supply chain. But Oxfam Hong Kong (Esprit is based in Hong Kong), awarded the company a paltry 10 marks out of 100 for supply-chain transparency in a 2006 report. Esprit disputes Oxfam's report. A new report is due later in 2008.

September 2008 update

Esprit has put money into campaigns to help victims of natural disasters (for example, those caught in the Sichuan earthquake). But as we pointed out above, Oxfam Hong Kong had criticised the lack of transparency in Esprit's supply chain. According to Oxfam, a new report is due out in either November or December 2008. We'll keep you posted.

Barkers Men's Clothing

BMC answered all sections in our questionnaire - but some answers weren't detailed.

We say

From the information supplied, BMC considers labour and environmental standards in its supply chain. We note that the company visits all overseas source factories every second year. BMC also sells 4 different T-shirt styles made from certified organic cotton.

But we didn't receive enough information to properly gauge ethical standards in BMC's supply chain. The company stated: "Barkers considers itself to be a good, fair and ethical employer ... though there is always room for improvement." We think BMC could improve its supply-chain transparency.

September 2008 update

Barkers sold 4 lines of organic cotton tees when we last looked. We're happy to report there will be 8 lines this summer. The company cites two labour-standard developments in its supply chain:

• Barkers' main supplier has begun auditing source factories through an independent organisation called Li & Fung Limited.
• China passed a new labour law designed to give workers greater job security in January this year (although 'The Economist' magazine, among others, calls the new law a "sop").

The rest

The 15 retailers that didn't respond to the questionnaire; or who told us that they were not interested in taking part were:

• Ballentynes (the clothing chain)
• Cue
• Ezibuy
• Farmers
• Glassons
• Huffer
• JacquiE
• Kate Sylvester
• Levi Strauss
• Macpac
• Max
• Rodd and Gunn
• Swazi
• Sussan
• World