Social Report Expresso

Transcription

1 Fair Wear Foundation member since 2004 Reporting period: 1 st April st March / 15

2 Contents 1. Summary: goals & achievements Sourcing strategy Sourcing strategy & pricing Organisation of the sourcing department Production cycle Supplier relations Integration monitoring activities and sourcing decisions Coherent system for monitoring and remediation... 7 Production divided per country Turkey (28%) China (19%) Macedonia (19%) Bulgaria 15% Tunisia (12%): India 3% Italy 2% Other countries External production Complaints handling Training and capacity building Activities to inform staff members Activities to inform agents Activities to inform manufacturers and workers Information management Transparency & communication Stakeholder Engagement Corporate Social Responsibility / 15

3 Expresso Fashion is a Dutch fashion brand with its own clear signature and distinctive, feminine style. Not surprising, because both the founder, as well as more than 70% of the Expresso team, are women. And who better than women know that fashion should make a woman look nicer. Mission We develop our collections to help women accentuate their strongest features, subtly camouflaging where necessary. In our collections the excellent cut is available from size 34 to 46 with the key words for each size being elegance, comfort, originality and individuality. Vision Regarding ethics and social responsibility, Expresso is very concerned about both people and the environment. This is also the reason that Expresso permanently supports the work of the Fair Wear Foundation. Yet, Expresso doesn t stop there. For the past years, a part of the collection have been produced from organic cotton and other environmentally-friendly materials. Plastic and paper is separated and plastic hangers are recycled. Read more about our vision at our website under vision. Collection Expresso delivers 4 collections per year, based on different themes. Each theme has striking style items but also good basics and accompanying accessories. The contemporary designs emphasize femininity and character. The team From the Expresso Head Office in Diemen, a team of more than 70 employees work with enthusiasm on the design, development, production and delivery of collections for the Dutch, German and Belgian markets. Expresso has 26 of its own Expresso Stores in the Netherlands and Belgium and delivers to around 700 retailers within the Netherlands and abroad. 3 / 15

4 1. Summary: goals & achievements 2014 In terms of implementing the FWF Code of Labour Practices along our supply chain, we kept going the way we have with our current suppliers. We did retain regular contact with our supplier on the importance of social compliancy and the process towards the ultimate goal: a positive impact on the circumstances of people working along the supply chain of our garments. We did also continue to expect changes and improvements according to the Corrective Action Plans at production locations. Also we strive to support and stimulate as much as possible the different trainings and programs FWF is offering to the factories. In 2014 we started working with new suppliers and new production locations, especially in Turkey. We actively inform them on our policy on social compliancy and the importance of keeping track of all production locations. We did continue to focus on parties that subscribe our values. Fair Wear Foundation audited three production locations. Four production locations joined the Workplace Education Program. And we continued on the Living Wage project with one supplier in Macedonia. We also have put much effort in informing and explaining the Workplace Education Program from FWF to our suppliers. This will result in 2015 in different suppliers who are joining the WEP. We supported different good causes, depending of what they needed: with donating items of Expresso s collection or financially. You can read more about this in Chapter 9 of this report. 4 / 15

5 2. Sourcing strategy 2.1. Sourcing strategy & pricing One of our sourcing norms is that suppliers subscribe the code of Labour Practices of Fair Wear Foundation and we expect an active cooperation with the FWF policy. The Production manager or Sustainability Coordinator asks the supplier for a company profile, the policy regarding labour conditions and previous audit reports. Expresso informs suppliers about corporate social responsibility and explains them of the need for an open approach towards the policy of Fair Wear Foundation. In case a supplier doesn t want to cooperate, we cannot start the business relationship. New suppliers are included in the supplier register. The Sustainability Coordinator archives all new information for the supplier register. She keeps the production quantities in a file, which is updated several times per year Organisation of the sourcing department The responsible persons for sourcing are Product Development Manager in combination with the Production Manager CMT, the Production Manager RMG and the Styling Team. The Production Managers are in direct contact with Sustainability Coordinator. The CEO directs our sourcing policy Production cycle The Styling department creates four collections per year. Expresso s Styling department is divided in two: there is an RMG and a CMT design team. Knitwear is mainly produced as Ready Made Garment (RMG) and the woven fabrics are mainly produced as Cut Make Trim (CMT). 5 / 15

6 The RMG Styling department chooses the suppliers for production in collaboration with the production manager RMG. The CMT Production department chooses the suppliers for the CMT production. The RMG collection is produced by suppliers in Bulgaria, Turkey, China, Italy and India. The lead time for RMG is around three months. The lead time for RMG is relatively long (and much longer than the period for CMT) because the supplier has to arrange the yarns/fabrics, patterns and trimmings, which takes time. Also, a part of the RMG collection is produced in the Far East, which results in long shipping times. The Cut Make Trim collection was in 2014 mainly made by suppliers in Tunisia, Turkey, Macedonia and Bulgaria. The lead time for CMT varies between 6 and 16 weeks. Lead times vary depending on the delivery of the collection and on the production country (relating to shipping times). The fabrics, patterns and the trimmings are arranged by the production department at Expresso Supplier relations The teams working with suppliers mostly work with long term relations. When a new supplier is needed, they try to find the best suppliers. They assess potential new suppliers and they use criteria like quality, lead-time, margin and compliance with the CSR standards equally. In 2014 Expresso started working with different new suppliers. The all started for a test order, some orders did not work out in terms of quality/ communication standards. The suppliers where we have got a good start with, we will continue working with them. We deliberately do not leave suppliers when they don t completely comply with FWF requirements; instead we strive for continuous development and improvement. We provide training and support to suppliers where needed Integration monitoring activities and sourcing decisions We will report about suppliers and their production locations with an order quantity over 2% of the total production FOB amount of Expresso Fashion. We have no external production. 6 / 15

7 3. Coherent system for monitoring and remediation Production divided per country Turkey 28% China 19% Macedonia 19% Bulgaria 15% Tunesia 12% India 3% Italy 2% other countries 2% (Portugal, The Netherlands and Marocco) 3.1. Turkey (28%) A: Working with Expresso since % of our production Audited in 2013 Achieved improvements in 2014: The supplier improved on Health & Safety issues (they installed a better ventilation system and clear emergency signs). Regarding Living Wages, they improved the system on keeping track of the salary administration and involvement of workers in understanding the payment slips. The supplier organised a worker representative meeting in order to stimulate better communication between supervisors and the workers. Needs to be improved: Management needs to organise a meeting with the workers representatives, also to involve them in an active complaints system within the factory. Regarding Health & Safety issues, still improvements need to be made on the emergency exits. B: Working with Expresso since / 15

8 6% of production They are working with subcontractors, that means Expresso collection is produced at different production locations For 2015 we agreed on working with only one subcontractor. We also agreed on a FWF audit and training for October 2015 C: Working with Expresso since % of production In 2014 they were working with 6 subcontractors for Expresso and the two most important subs and the main supplier attended the Workplace Education Program from Fair Wear Foundation in August 2014 Together with another FWF affiliate we are cooperating on the follow up of the monitoring activities. D: Working with Expresso since % of production They are working with 4 subcontractors for Expresso production. The main supplier and the subcontractors will be joining the Workplace Education Program in October 2015 E/F/G/H: Four smaller suppliers producing for Expresso each1 % Two of these suppliers are new in We expect that they will increase orders. These new suppliers were visited in China (19%) A: Working with Expresso since % of Expresso production This supplier joined the Workplace Education Program in October The workers and management considered the training organized by FWF and Expresso of big importance. Corrective Actions: Achieved improvements in 2014: This supplier was audited by two other organisations and the supplier updated Expresso regarding improvements on Health & Safety issues. Needs to be improved: the supplier mentioned that short lead-times remains to 8 / 15

9 be an issue. Expresso did discuss this with the supplier before but apparently not enough. We have to go into this again for the upcoming year. B: We work with this supplier through an Dutch agency since 2011 This supplier has been audited by FWF in November 2013 Corrective Actions: Achieved improvements in 2014: Most important is that the factory has set up an worker representative committee and they organised meetings. Needs to be improved: Reduction of overtime remains an issue C: Working with Expresso since % of production for Expresso This supplier has been audited in December 2011 and November In the last audit, many improvements were noticed. Many secondary benefits for workers are well organised. We cooperate with another FWF affiliate on the monitoring activities. Corrective Actions: Achieved improvements after the audit: the factory arranged an canteen meeting for inform workers on the FWF Code of Labour Practices. An ergonomic program has been set up however we have to see this as an ongoing process to keep track on improvements. Needs to be improved: two of the improvements for 2015: better dialogue with workers representatives to increase unit price and a better production planning in order to reduce overtime. D: We also have a bag supplier in China which we are working with since This factory was not included in the monitoring system for Fair Wear Foundation. We now included them and they have filled out the questionnaire on social compliancy Macedonia (19%) A: Working with Expresso since % of production for Expresso This supplier is attending a pilot project from Fair Wear Foundation on Living Wages. We are very satisfied with the open and cooperative attitude of this 9 / 15

10 supplier. B: Working with Expresso since % of production for Expresso The supplier is audited by FWF in 2011 for the first time and in July 2014 for a verification audit. After the 2 nd audit, they have made improvements on different Health & Safety issues. The factory arranged a meeting on informing the workers on the FWF Code of Labour Practices and the complaints system. Expresso is working together with another FWF affiliate to follow up on the corrective actions. C: Working with Expresso since % of production for Expresso The supplier and Expresso planned an audit for October Bulgaria 15% A: Producing since 2008 for Expresso Audit in October 2014 B: subs from supplier A. 2 out of 4 locations were audited in All actions from the CAP were solved. Audits planned for all production locations in August/ September 2015 C: New supplier for Expresso since Spring We visited the production location in 2014 before placing orders. They work with subcontractors. However they produce collection for Expresso mostly in their own production location. D: New supplier for Expresso since Winter 2014 We visited the production location in 2014 before placing orders. They work with subcontractors. The focus for 2015 and future will be to monitor the subcontractors they work with. The supplier filled out the social questionnaire and posted the Fair Wear Foundation Code of Labour Practices 10 / 15

11 E: We worked with one supplier for a test order for Spring 15. We visited them before placing orders. However we will not continue doing business with this production location due to communication/ quality issues. F: This production location did produce organic cotton t-shirts for Expresso. The production location was visited by FWF in The order in 2014 was for one more time, we will not continue working with this supplier Tunisia (12%): A: Working for Expresso since % of our production Last audit was in 2012 and we are still working on the actions from the CAP. One important issue to work in is regarding better communication between management and his workers. In order to progress, this supplier and Expresso agreed on attending the FWF Workplace Education Program in October Corrective Actions achieved improvements in 2014: Wages increased over the last 3 years. Worker Committee is meeting more frequently since Needs to be improved: B/ C: We have two other supplies in Tunisia, one with different production locations One supplier is for Expresso since They are producing together 2% for Expresso They have filled out the questionnaire on social compliancy and posted the Fair Wear Foundation Code of Labour Practices India 3% Supplier A: Working with Expresso since % of production This supplier was audited in 2013 and Expresso is working with this supplier on improvement of the Corrective action Plan. 11 / 15

12 3.7. Italy 2% Supplier A: This supplier is working with Expresso since % of production We visited the production locations in 2015 in order to follow up on the monitor activities for low risk countries Other countries Expresso has three suppliers producing a small part of the collection (in three different, low risk countries (Portugal, The Netherlands and Morocco). The suppliers have all filled out the social compliancy questionnaire. And the supplier in Portugal has been visited External production Expresso does not work with suppliers as external producer. 4. Complaints handling The Sustainability Coordinator is responsible for dealing with complaints. The complaint is discussed with FWF and internally with the relevant Production Manager. Then the supplier themselves are contacted. Regarding of the outcome of this talk and using the feedback from FWF, it is decided which steps, if any, need to be taken. We did not receive any complaint in 2014 from workers at our suppliers. 5. Training and capacity building 5.1. Activities to inform staff members Head Office: Expresso s sustainability coordinator is working at the production department therefore she can easily discuss with the different production teams. New staff at the head office got an introduction about the activities for the membership of Fair Wear Foundation. The sustainability coordinator has regular meetings with the production managers and the CEO in order to update everyone about the process, developments and improvements at suppliers. 12 / 15

13 5.2. Activities to inform agents We work with a few agencies for some part of the production. When we work through an agent, they have an active role in sourcing and buying policy and in the monitoring and follow up of the FWF norms Activities to inform manufacturers and workers We have informed all our new suppliers to post the FWF Code of Labour Practices (the worker information sheet) at all production locations. We ask them to send a photo of the location where the Code is posted. In addition, when production managers visit the production locations, they also fill out the Health & Safety checklist from FWF. Part of this list is to check if the Code is posted. They also make a picture of this. We ask the suppliers to organise a (canteen) meeting to inform their workers about the FWF Code of Labour Practices. During an audit of WEP, FWF verifies if all workers are aware of the Code of Labour Practices. 6. Information management The sustainability coordinator is in direct contact with all our direct suppliers and the agents. We ask the suppliers for an update more or less 4 times a year. In case the suppliers works with subcontractors, we ask for an update regarding the production locations. We divided our suppliers in different categories in order to follow up on the activities. If we just start working with a new supplier and new production locations, we start with the social compliancy questionnaire, posting the Code of Labour Practices. In phase 2, we look at current auditing reports and we ask them to inform us on the improvements as follow up of these audits. Phase 3 means that the supplier is producing more than 2% for Expresso and then we include them in the monitoring program which entails an FWF audit of training. After this, we follow up on the corrective actions as suggested by FWF. We noticed a growing use of subcontractors at our suppliers. We allow using subcontractors as long as we are informed about this prior to the production. We require the suppliers to inform the subcontractors and (in case needed, help them) to fill out the questionnaire and post the CoLP. 7. Transparency & communication Expresso values sustainability highly because we want grow our business and create beautiful products, but only with respect for people and the environment. We are certainly transparent about our sustainability efforts, but we communicate about this very carefully. We communicate to both consumers and the press. We recognize the need for increased transparency as a result from the growing 13 / 15

14 consumer desire to know which brands are more sustainable than others. Therefore we are slowly communicating more about our sustainability policy, which obviously includes our FWF membership of which we are very proud. Our main communication platforms are our website, our magazine, social media and the sustainability brochure. In the first months of 2015, we actively informed our wholesale customers about the sustainability activities. We use the sustainability brochure to further inform them about the content. We also ask them to place our sustainability brochure close to the place where they sell our collections. The Social Report is published on our own website as well as the Fair Wear Foundation website. The results of our Brand Performance Check are also posted on there. The Fair Wear Foundation its features at the bottom of every page 8. Stakeholder Engagement Our customers as stakeholders: We have an address specifically for sustainability related inquiries The Sustainability Coordinator responds to these s from customers and other parties. We use the country studies from Fair Wear Foundation in order to better understand the risks in the countries where we produce. This also helps us to follow up on specific issues in the corrective action plan. Stakeholders in the Netherlands: Working groups of Plan van Aanpak Expresso joins three working groups in the Action Plan of the Dutch textile and apparel industry. The different topics are: Purchasing Practices & Due diligence, Circular Economy and Communication. The kick- off of the working groups was in March The working groups are gathering (more or less) every 3 months. The working group Communication is in combination with the research consumer behaviour on sustainable fashion purchasing of the Dutch Ministry of infrastructure and environment together with GFK. Expresso joined this research in 2013 in order to find out more about the best way to communicate about sustainability to their consumers. 14 / 15

15 9. Corporate Social Responsibility For many years, Expresso donated money and garments to different good causes. In order to give a better structure to the different good causes, we formed the Claudia Sträter & Expresso Foundations. Our store staff got the chance to choose their most favourite good cause. We are now working with these organisations to help them in terms of donating money. We use our website to inform about our activities on Corporate Social Responsibility topics. 15 / 15