On October 1st, the Better Buying Institute will launch its Partnership Index, a versatile new tool enabling buyers and retailers to take a rapid temperature check of their supplier relationships across multiple industries, regions and tiers.
Garment brands and retailers who were already engaged with Better Buying when Covid-19 struck continued to improve some areas of their purchasing practices and treatment of suppliers throughout the pandemic, according to early analysis of this year’s supplier ratings.
Brands and retailers who have subscribed with Better Buying over two or more supplier ratings cycles have continued to improve their purchasing practices, and are making progress towards building more resilient supply chains, despite the unprecedented global challenge of COVID-19.
Suppliers and manufacturers in the garment industry are invited to complete the STTI Baseline Survey, open until 7th January, and available in both English and Chinese. The survey asks manufacturers to rate their buyers' adherence to commercial compliance, which STTI defines as ‘purchasing practices that do not cause obvious and avoidable harm to manufacturers’.
The Better Buying Institute continues its expansion into the wider consumer goods sector with the publication today of its first Spotlight Report and Scorecard for Homegoods.
The Better Buying Institute launches its E-Learning course to help personnel in multiple roles and departments within brands and retailers to understand and embed responsible purchasing practices in their day-to-day work.
The Better BuyingTM Partnership Index enables suppliers to rate their buyers according to 12 subjective measures, with buyers categorized as either True Partners, Collaborators, or Detractors. The label of True Partner is only granted when a buyer has satisfied a particular measure all of the time.
We are pleased to announce that April 1st marks the start of this year’s Better Buying Purchasing Practices IndexTM (BBPPI) 2022 annual ratings cycle. The cycle will be open for supplier ratings until May 31st.
We've been talking about living wages for workers in the apparel industry for many years- what needs to be done to make progress on paying them?
Post-Covid survival and climate change for the global fashion industry hang on its willingness to abandon the colonial mindset and welcome suppliers to the decision table as equals - A blog post by Dr. Marsha Dickson, President and Co-Founder of Better Buying Institute.
The 2022 Better Buying Purchasing Practices IndexTM Garment Scorecard is published, ahead of the full findings and scores from the Better Buying Purchasing Practices IndexTM.
Suppliers are invited to participate in the Sustainable Terms of Trade Initiative (STTI) survey of commercial compliance. Driven by 15 apparel manufacturing associations from 11 countries, STTIs' objective is to deliver a major contribution towards purchasing practices that allow textile and garment manufacturers to run a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable operation.
When brands and retailers accept the SLCP Converged Assessment Framework instead of insisting on buyer-specific audits, the potential for worker benefits are significant. But audit harmonization is only part of the picture. Buyers’ purchasing practices need to be strong across all seven Better BuyingTM categories to support ongoing supplier sustainability, and deliver consistent benefits to workers
An article by Dr. Marsha Dickson, President and Co-Founder of Better Buying Institute, on the connection between purchasing practices and factory-level noncompliance, and how brands and retailers can comply with Germany's new Supply Chain Due Diligence law.
The Better Buying Partnership IndexTM report 2023 finds that the quality of buyer-supplier partnerships in global supply chains has only slightly improved since last year, indicating that suppliers are still feeling the impact of disruption more than two years on from the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
"If we really are serious about driving change in purchasing practices, then stakeholders should be demanding action and evidence, not just talking about it." Dr. Marsha Dickson, President and Co-Founder of Better Buying Institute, reflects on this year's OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector.
The Better Buying Institute (BBI) is inviting non-apparel companies to subscribe to its Better Buying Partnership IndexTM (BBPI) to take the lead in relation to mandatory human rights due diligence reporting requirements.
Buyer surveys on purchasing practices do not produce credible data, and waste money and resources that brands and retailers could be spending elsewhere in the business. So let’s put the brakes on, before this train gets out of control. Read the latest article from our President and Co-Founder, Dr. Marsha Dickson.
The first annual Better Buying Commercial Compliance TrackerTM has been developed as part of Better Buying’s participation in The Sustainable Terms of Trade Initiative, and measures adherence to minimum levels of performance outlined in key recommendations set forth by manufacturers as central elements to the terms of trade they wish to do business under – purchasing practices that do not cause them ‘obvious and avoidable harm.’
The Conscience of Clothing - Mode.Macht.Menschen. is a documentary film project that aims to raise awareness about sustainability and fair fashion.
amfori hosted a session on Human Rights Due Diligence within the 2022 UN South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights
On 25 March, amfori President Linda Kromjong delivered a presentation at a side session organized by the International Organisation of Employers of the UN 3rd South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights.
On 8 April 2022, amfori, in collaboration with the International Labor Organization Responsible Supply Chains in Asia Programme (ILO RSCA), organised a webinar on the theme Gender Equality in Business and Supply Chains: Empowering Women during Post-Pandemic Recovery in Asia, which was attended by more than 110 brands, producers and experts in the field.
amfori has made a Pledge to 'increase the visibility and transparancy of social and environmental conditions in supply chains'. This is a week where global actors are focusing on environment-related issues, with the 50th edition of World Environment Day and the UN preparatory meeting for the next global summit on climate action, COP 27.
Over the last couple of years governmental legislative actions addressing forced labour have seen a marked rise. Amongst the key actions has been the European Commission’s announcement by President von der Leyen in her State of the Union address of September 2021: it intends to keep the EU market free from products made, extracted or harvested with forced labour, whether they are made in the EU or elsewhere in the world.
On 22 July 2022, amfori and China Sustainability Tribune, co-hosted the 26th Sino-European CSR Roundtable Forum. It was held in Beijing in a hybrid mode. The event themed “Empower Low-Carbon Supply Chains and Transformation Opportunities Brought by Best Practices" and was moderated by Mr. Yu Zhihong, President and Editor-in-chief of the China Sustainability Tribune, attracting a total of 140,000 persons from China and across the globe online and offline.
We just released the after-movie of the amfori Annual Event that you can watch below:
amfori’s president Linda Kromjong signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) together with Gerd Mueller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation on shared interest areas for driving the #ESG.
At the closing of United Nations Biodiversity Conference: COP15, amfori announced they are making a pledge to become Accelerators for the Race to Zero.
The amfori Climate Lab is a new initiative to raise climate awareness, deepen the conversation with amfori members, assess gaps and brainstorm collectively on ways to improve together and support each other. It intends to capitalise on the pool of resources and good work that amfori members and partners are building.
