SUSTAINABILITY OF SHOE BRANDS BENCHMARK REPORT 2013

Transcription

1 SUSTAINABILITY OF SHOE BRANDS BENCHMARK REPORT

2 FOREWORD The idea for Rank a Brand popped up in 2008, in the Kalverstraat, the most crowded shopping street in Amsterdam. I was looking for a fair pair of jeans: made without environmental pollution or unfair exploitation of workers. While shopping, I couldn t find anything about the sustainability credentials of the jeans that the shops offered. I then decided to aggregate the information myself and share it with friends. During the building of Rank a Brand, I found out that I am not the only one with the simple wish to buy a fair piece of clothing. At the time of writing, Rank a Brand serves ten-thousand consumers with sustainability ratings for 400 fashion brands. Rank a Brand is a constantly growing movement, in terms of contributors, users, media interest and most important: the number of brands to follow up on our sustainability criteria. Our research gets increasingly thorough over time. Over the last months we have been working hard on background research in the footwear sector. We put together an overview of the best social and environmental practices and developed sharp evaluation criteria. After comparing 72 footwear brands active on the Dutch market, we would like to share the many unique insights we found. This report is primarily made for shoe companies. It shows the trends and best practices, that will certainly help your decision making towards making shoe production more transparent and sustainable, and will enable clear communication of your milestones to the public. Enjoy reading! Niels Oskam Founder Rank a Brand

3 SUSTAINABILITY OF SHOE BRANDS INDEX FOREWORD MANAGEMENT SUMMARY METHOD OF RESEARCH Results SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES SHOE INDUSTRY... 8 HIGHLIGHTS SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH Mainly E labels for shoe brands Dutch brands below average Climate Environment Labour conditions BRAND PERFORMANCE Gaps between shoe brands Score per brand PROMOTION & PUBLICITY RECOMMENDATIONS APPENDIX: CRITERIA Climate change Ecology Labour Conditions COLOFON

4 51% OF THE SHOE BRANDS RESEARCHED HAS ADOPTED A BASIC SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT FOR LABOUR CONDITIONS MANAGEMENT SUMMARY How transparent are shoe brands when it comes to CSR reporting? More important: were they more transparent than the previous year? Rank a Brand presents the annual sustainability report for the shoe sector. According to strict criteria and best practices set for this sector we ranked 72 shoe brands on their sustainable reporting and performance. On November 8th 2012 the results were published in the Dutch media, presenting PUMA as the winner of the Rank a Brand Award. Together with niche brands Ethletic and Veja they scored the most points on labour conditions, ecology and climate change. All results are published on and Growth Last year the shoe brands scored 14% of the all criteria set, this year they scored 20%. Rank a Brand labels the brands from A to E, A being the best label for sustainability. None of the brands were able to meet the necessary 75% of all set criteria though. Eight brands received a B label, half of which were for the better performing sport shoe brands. The highest score was 67% of all set criteria. There were only 3 C labels assigned and 13 D labels. A vast majority of 48 out of the sample of ranked shoe brands were not able to meet 15% of the set criteria and were therefore assigned a negative buying advice with an E label. Criteria were altered relative to the previous year, especially for ecology. Brands need to keep innovative and improve their sustainable performance. Many brands still have to start their transparent CSR communication though; they don t provide public information on their sustainable performance at all or don t disclose clear facts and figures. Best score for sustainable labour conditions The importance of not being associated with poor working conditions in shoe production has landed relatively the best within the 3 themes researched. An average score of 21% out of 9 criteria set for labour conditions. Most brands have applied the basic Code of Conduct, ruling out slavery and child labour. However, this Code of Conduct usually doesn t apply further down the supply chain, such as for the animal farms and leather production. 4

5 The score for climate change is second with an average of 15%. Many brands have formulated a policy to minimize carbon emissions but few get serious enough to communicate their specific targets and results. Ecology scores a low of only 9% of 8 criteria. Tanning leather is one of the most polluting processes in the world resulting in environmental pollution and serious health hazards. The shoe sector should put more effort into choosing more environmentally preferable base materials and rule out the use of dangerous chemicals and PVC. Call for more transparency Our research points out that the shoe sector views sustainability of increasing importance. Looking at last year s result, we can ascertain spectacular growth. Still, too many brands are lagging behind though. Rank a Brand calls for more transparency in CSR policy and performance for all shoe brands. Especially on ecology and also labour conditions further down the supply chain there is still too much unclear. Two thirds of all consumers in the Netherlands find sustainable production important. A consumer should be able to make a conscious buying decision. Clear and transparent information should therefore be provided by all brands. Concluding Rank a Brand strives for a sustainable society and wants to make sustainability a buying factor. Our ranks on sustainability are published on our website. We want to stimulate brands to become more sustainable and be open in their performance. Best performers are rewarded and laggards can receive information and consultancy to improve. This report describes the sustainable trends within the shoe sector, demonstrates the gaps between headers and laggards, presents best practices as a sector benchmark and shows the results of each brand researched. Finally we provide recommendations for shoe brands to improve their sustainability score in the future. 5