Our Approach
Our supply chain is critical to the success of our core retail business. Together with our
transportation partners, we operate one of the largest retail distribution networks in Canada,
which efficiently moves products across the world. Our Supply Chain team is continually improving the resiliency of our logistics operations, and we are always looking for new ways to
reduce the environmental impacts across our supply chain.
Progress towards the sustainability of our supply chain requires a relationship with our vendors
that is grounded in honesty, integrity and respect, and is guided by our Supplier Code of
Business Conduct. It is designed to ensure that vendors clearly understand how we expect to
conduct our business, including standards and policies on labour, work conditions, wages,
health and safety and the environment. All our vendors must agree to abide by these
commitments as a condition of doing business with CTC. The Supplier Code of Business
Conduct is supported by an audit process that includes training and education to help vendors
understand and apply the policies. By working with suppliers and business partners who are
aligned with our corporate values, we are building a more resilient and responsible network to
service our customers. The Supplier Code of Business Conduct is reviewed regularly, and we
are planning to do a comprehensive refresh of the policy in 2023.
To learn more about how we uphold these standards across our supply chain, see our Human
Rights & Social Responsibility section.
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Managing the environmental impacts in our supply chain
We are diligently working to develop our plans to reduce the environmental impacts in our
supply chain. Our current focus is on gaining visibility into the greenhouse gas emissions that
arise from activities like the raw material extraction and manufacture of our products before they
arrive in our distribution centres (these contribute to CTC’s overall “Scope 3 emissions,” which
you can learn more about in our Climate Change section and our 2022 Climate Data Supplement.
Given that these activities are outside of our direct control, measuring and reducing these
emissions must be achieved in collaboration with our vendors, taking into consideration their
own climate commitments, carbon footprints and emissions-reduction initiatives.
Tier 1 suppliers and beyond
Our global sourcing network is made up of a series of suppliers who each play a role in
the sourcing, production and manufacturing of products before they arrive on our store
shelves. The factories that supply the finished owned brand goods directly to CTC are
referred to as our Tier 1 suppliers (these may be owned or subcontracted by our
vendors). The suppliers who transact directly with our Tier 1 suppliers are referred to as
Tier 2 suppliers, and so on.
Our efforts to improve the environmental impacts of our supply chain are primarily
focused on our Tier 1 suppliers because we have the most influence over them.
However, we are also working to improve the transparency of our supply chain networks
and ensure that supplier facilities beyond Tier 1 meet our rigorous standards.
Tier 4
Suppliers who extract raw materials
Tier 3
Suppliers who process raw materials into components
Tier 2
Suppliers who manufacture the final product using component pieces
Tier 1
Suppliers who assemble and package the final product
Within our apparel and footwear supply chain, we are leveraging the industry leading Higg
Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) program developed by the Sustainable Apparel
Coalition. The Higg FEM program provides a consistent methodology to measure factory carbon
footprints, giving us a clearer picture of our Scope 3 emissions along our value chain, while also
facilitating conversations with our supply chain partners to make improvements to their own
environmental impacts. In 2022, 13 of Helly Hansen’s Tier 1 supplier factories and 53 of Helly
Hansen’s Tier 2 supplier factories completed a Higg FEM assessment. In 2023, we will continue
to gather Higg FEM data from factories manufacturing our owned brand products across more
of our banners.
Helly Hansen: Tracing the Supply Chain
In 2022, Helly Hansen ran a pilot to improve traceability within its supply chain, and in
early 2023, it invested in a supply chain tracing software called TrusTrace. The pilot was
an important step in gaining more knowledge about Tier 3 and 4 suppliers, enabling
Helly Hansen to better minimize risks, drive change and reduce the negative impacts
within its supply chain. Helly Hansen intends to leverage the lessons from the pilot to
continue mapping out its suppliers, materials and products.
We recognize that many of the environmental impacts in our supply chain are interconnected
with the larger global retail and manufacturing system. As a result, we also invest in and
collaborate with our supply chain partners, including other brands and retailers. Sustainability
challenges across retail and consumer goods supply chains are systemic and complex,
requiring cross-sector collaboration to facilitate progress. We are leveraging our network to
support sustainable development throughout our business and across Canada. Here are some
of the ways we are advancing this work:
- We are a member of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, a trade association
for leading retailers that fosters collaboration between industry peers to advance
progress on complex, industry-wide issues, including sustainability.
- We are a founding member of the Canada Plastics Pact, a partnership of
businesses committed to keeping plastics in the economy and out of the environment.
- We are a founding member of the Circular Economy Leadership Canada, an
organization providing thought leadership, technical expertise and a collaborative
platform to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, circular economy in Canada.
We work closely with our transportation partners to improve the sustainability of our supply
chain transportation networks while ensuring our customers have access to our products. Our
efforts to optimize loads and routes, through initiatives such as using long combination vehicles,
eliminating unnecessary round-trip journeys and applying cube optimization, have resulted in
cost efficiencies and reductions in fuel use and emissions. Changing our operational
infrastructure requires dedicated investments, like when we developed the 60-foot intermodal
containers with Canadian Pacific Railway to increase transport productivity.
We measure the energy use and emissions that result from the transportation of our products
from foreign ports all the way to our stores and customers’ homes. These calculations include
not only our own fleet’s emissions, but also the third-party emissions related to our business.
For details on our transportation carbon footprint, please see our 2022 Climate Data
Supplement.