Ethical Sourcing
WHAT IS ETHICAL SOURCING?
Ethical Sourcing covers all aspects of our supply chain and is our responsibility to ensure that at each touchpoint of the process, the rights of the workers involved and the environmental impacts are considered. We have a responsibility to our customers to ensure that we know where our goods are produced, who by and under what conditions.
why is this important to Showpo?
The biggest impact we can have at Showpo is the impact we have on our supply chain as this is the core of our operation. We will always be a fast fashion brand and have a long way to go on our sustainability journey in our supply chain. But to begin this work, our first step is to truly understand:
- Where are our products produced?
- Who makes your clothes?
- Is this done in a safe and ethical environment?
We’re proud of the relationships we’ve built with our suppliers over time. We don’t like to frequently change our suppliers but instead build meaningful long-term partnerships that allow us to grow together.
what have we already done in this area?
Showpo is committed to transparency within our supply chain and as such requires each of our suppliers to adhere to our Ethical Sourcing policy, which covers 3 main areas - Code of conduct, Factory tracing, Auditing and Compliance. We review this information annually to ensure we always maintain accurate records and that suppliers are keeping documentation up to date.
Code of Conduct
Our code of conduct adheres to the four ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. It is reviewed & reissued on a bi-annual basis. Both own brand & branded suppliers are required to sign this, where a brand has their own code we accept this through mutual recognition.
To date 87% of our suppliers have signed our code of conduct, which is 100% of our Own Design Suppliers and 84% of our Branded partners.
Factory Tracing
Each of our Own Branded suppliers is required to share an up to date factory list of all facilities used to manufacture goods purchased by Showpo. We classify factories into the following 4 Tiers.
| Tier | Stage | Practice involved | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | End stage manufacturing | Where products come together | Cut / Make / Trim factories |
| 2 | Processing | Any activity that goes into the finished product | Dyeing, printing, washing, embroidery |
| 3 | Fabrics | Any activity involved in making fabrics | Spinning, weaving, fabric mills |
| 4 | Raw materials | Fibres, Yarns & Raw inputs | Farms. Raw materials factories |
We require all Own Brand suppliers to share locations of Tier 1 & 2 at minimum. Where we have sourced a preferred fibre we also require Tier 3 along with the relevant certificates.
To date, We've traced 100% of our existing Own design suppliers to Tier 2 and 29% to Tier 3. We plan to continue this work to expand on our tracing into Tier 3 & 4.
compliance & audit program
We have chosen to implement an annual audit program with our suppliers to measure and manage the ethical standards present in our factories. At this stage, this involves working with our suppliers to mutually recognise existing audits they may have or partnering with them on announced audits.
We’ve chosen SEDEX as our preferred standard of audit. SEDEX is an internationally recognised audit standard that most factories are familiar with. This standard also gives us the greatest level of detail in the results.
We expect all of our suppliers to hold a current and valid audit for each Tier 1 location that produces for us.
