Category: Blogs

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Blogs

Guest Blog: Better Buying’s newest Board Member, Shahi Exports’ Anaht Ahuja, on why sustainability is inextricably linked to purchasing practices

“Growing awareness of the potential for purchasing practices to transform worker wellbeing, achieve living wages, drive environmental sustainability, and unlock innovation makes this an exciting time to be joining the Better Buying Institute’s Board of Directors”, Anant Ahuja In the journey to build out Shahi’s sustainability agenda and to scale impactful worker wellbeing initiatives through […]

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The Path to Responsible Purchasing: brands and retailers are too different for a ‘one size fits all’ approach to developing standards

Dr. Marsha Dickson, President and Co-Founder of Better Buying Institute on how, when it comes to defining standards for purchasing practices,  ‘responsible’ will look different for different companies  Purchasing practices have become a top priority for the fashion industry, as understanding grows among brands and retailers of the myriad of practices that negatively impact suppliers, […]

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Blogs Case studies

GUEST BLOG: Michael Levine, Chief Sustainability Officer for Under Armour, Inc.

Better Buying’s vision statement calls for brands and retailers to work together with responsible purchasing practices to achieve shared goals including profitability. Michael Levine, Chief Sustainability Officer for Under Armour, Inc., explains how purchasing practices and working closely with suppliers are key to delivering profitable growth and building resilient supply chains. As one of Better […]

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Copenhagen: shaping fashion’s “new era”

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  For the first time since the Covid-19 Pandemic, global fashion brands will gather this week in Copenhagen’s Royal Opera House, in the city’s exclusive harbor district, for […]

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Guest Blog: The need for robust FIRST MILE thinking

Closeup butterfly on jeans clothes

A guest blog from Stephen E. Lamar, AAFA President and CEO We’ve long been discussing the pivot of our industry from a last mile focus to FIRST MILE thinking. With the last mile, we had been concentrating on how to get goods to the customer – to cover that last mile to service folks who […]

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Blogs

Living Wages: Time for an Annual Health Check? 

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?  I went to the doctor last week for my annual checkup. He took my blood pressure, listened to my heart and lungs, and asked about my diet, exercise habits […]

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Guest Blog: The Better Buying Partnership IndexTM shows that too often, communication between brands is more about dictation than a conversation, says Bulent Alkanli

In today’s competitive environment with so many uncertainties, whatever information available within a supply chain, if shared, will lead to efficiencies and enable all parties within the chain to gain margins. The whole value chain should work together and the starting point of that collaboration is communication. The latest Better Buying Partnership IndexTM,which is being […]

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Apparel brands often talk about the “great” partnerships they have with their suppliers. But what really makes a “True Partner?”

The term “partnership” is a long-established part of the apparel industry lexicon. The term is often invoked by brands and retailers when defining the quality of their supplier relationships, to imply that we’re working together, everyone is benefitting, everything is just great. Strategic partners especially are assumed to enjoy enviable deals – with large orders […]

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Better Buying Institute launches “best in class” purchasing practices e-learning course for brands and retailers

“When we were considering organizations to partner with to develop a Responsible Purchasing Practices eLearning training, Better Buying Institute was at the top of our list given their work in this ‘space’, and the training that BBI developed is reflective of that expertise.” Selcuk Buyukozer, VP Social & Environmental Affairs (SEA) Americas, adidas. The Better Buying […]

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The S Factor: Why investors should be using Better BuyingTM data to better understand human rights risks in supply chains

The S Factor: Why investors should be using Better BuyingTM data to better understand human rights risks in supply chains Investors as part of their active engagement on ESG should be asking non-participating companies to join Better BuyingTM and participating companies to share scorecards with them, says Dr Martin Buttle, Head of Good Work, ShareAction. […]