Understanding Ethical Sourcing in the Supply Chain

15 Nov 2016

What does Ethical Sourcing really mean for your business?

In recent years, demand for ethically sourced and sustainable products has grown tremendously. Globalisation has caused consumers to become more aware of the affects manufacturing of products has on the people that make them all over the world.  But what does Ethical Sourcing really mean for a business?

Ethical Sourcing is the process of ensuring that the products made are obtained through responsible and sustainable methods. This includes ensuring that the workers who make the products are paid a fair wage and all human rights are met, the factories are clean and safe environments to work in, and that all social and environmental aspects of production to the workers and the surrounding communities are considered.

Although there are many reasons for an organisation to want to ethically produce their products, companies often take the first step to ethically produce their products for the following reasons:

• to mitigate their risks,
• to reduce operating costs,
• to protect their brand image and meet customer demands in order to grow sales.

In order to do this, brands and international buyers are demanding more effective measures for evaluating ethical sourcing and in particular working conditions. We have seen a significant shift towards greater transparency and the implementation of sophisticated, yet practical, tools for assessing continuous improvement.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts as we discuss how Intertek is helping organisations all over the world meet these goals.