Sporting Goods Brands Nab Top Scores in Responsible Sourcing Survey

Adidas scored highest of 49 western brands to scored for their efforts to keep cotton grown by forced Uzbeki labor, including children, out of their supply chains, according to a new report released by the Responsible Sourcing Network.

The NGO has been working with socially responsible investors and the apparel industry to since 2007 to end use of suspect Uzbeki cotton. It conducted the study to capture best practices and to gain an overall understanding of what the industries are doing to identify risks, establish policies, implement procedures, and disclose practices to eliminate and prevent forced labor.

“It is well documented that for decades the Government of Uzbekistan has been forcing up to a million of its citizens to work in the cotton harvest each year,” reads the report. “However, due to international and corporate pressure, during the 2012 and 2013 cotton harvests, the Uzbek government almost entirely eliminated the number of children under 15 years of age it forced to work in the fields.Unfortunately, it is now sending even larger numbers of older children and adults to labor in the cotton fields."

A maximum of 100 points could be assigned across 11 indicators in the categories of Policy, Public Disclosure, Engagement, and Implementation & Auditing. In reviewing the individual company scores, out of a maximum of 100 points, five companies scored above 50 points (with 68 being the highest score) and 28 companies scored under 30 points (with two companies scoring zero).

The overall highest-scoring companies, with points greater than 50, were: adidas AG, Marks and Spencer Group plc (M&S), IKEA AG, Patagonia, Inc., and Phillips-Van Heusen Corp (PVH). The five lowest-scoring companies were: All Saints Retail Limited, Urban Outfitters, Inc., Costco Wholesale Corporation, Forever 21, Inc., and Sears Holding Corporation.

Sporting goods companies’ ranks and scores follow below:

1st:  Adidas 68
4th:  Patagonia 60
9th:  Fruit of the Loom 44
10th: Li and Fung Ltd. 43
13th: Lululemon Athletica Inc. 41.5
19th: Columbia Sportswear Co.,  32
22nd: Nike 29.5
29th:  VF Corp. 25
35th:  Hanesbrands Inc 10
38th:  Kering Group 75

By press release