Two multi-stakeholders whose members include brands like ASOS, Nudie Jeans, Asda, and H&M today publicly disclosed their full Better Buying Partnership Index (BBPI) reports in an effort to increase transparency on purchasing practices.
Fair Wear and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) showed fair financial practices (ETI: 70.6% and Fair Wear: 77.8%) and business dealings free from corruption and bribery (ETI: 92.9% and Fair Wear: 94.4%). Both showcased particularly good communication practices (ETI: 70.6% and Fair Wear: 86.1%).
- The major brands in Fair Wear include: Nudie Jeans, HempAge, s.Oliver, PYUA, Picture Organic, Louise, Mantis, Living Crafts, Kuyichi, Bel & Bo.
- The major brands in ETI include: AB Lindex, Asda, Asos, Bestseller, Burberry, DAKS, H&M, Inditex, Kappahl, Marks & Spencer, Missguided.
The 'what': The disclosures were made under The Industry We Want (TIWW), a multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to driving industry-wide progress on key issues in the garment and footwear sector. TIWW centralises the need for progress in commercial practices for the realisation of both social and environmental industry transformation.
The Better Buying Partnership Index reports for Fair Wear and ETI provide detailed scoring across the Partnership Index’s 12 key behaviours. These new insights are devised by collecting aggregated supplier feedback pertaining to ETI or Fair Wear member brands. Suppliers can rate member brand customers as either True Partners, Collaborators, or Detractors on each issue.
The Way They Scored
ETI scored 8 points above the industry with—at 63%—a higher percentage of True Partners than the industry average of 56%. Looking in more detail at the breakdown, ETI’s strongest performance is in:
- Absence of corruption and bribery (92.9%);
- Good communication (70.6%);
- Fair financial practices (70.6%);
- Stable business with buyers (60%).
Fair Wear scored 28 points above industry average of 39, with 73% of brands receiving True Partner scores. The details of the breakdown showed that Fair Wear member brands are exhibiting good behaviours across all categories. Fair Wear’s strongest performance is in:
- Absence of corruption and bribery (94.4%);
- Good communication (86.1%);
- Stable business with buyers (80.6%);
- Fair financial practices (77.8%).
What they said:
I’m pleased to see both Fair Wear and ETI promoting disclosure and transparency on purchasing practices and hope to see more actors in the industry follow their lead. This is a key step towards improving working conditions and ensuring a positive impact on the industry and those that work in it, as it sheds light on what equal partnerships look should like and how those are enabled.
— Keren Pybu
CEO and Co-Founder
Ethical Apparel Africa
