“Customers want more information about the sustainable origins of clothing. We work hard in the K-Group to ensure the sustainability of our products, and we want to tell our customers more thoroughly about all the things we consider, ”says Matti Kalervo, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Kesko.
Customers and NGOs are particularly interested in where and under what conditions products produced in distant lands are manufactured.
“On this page, we answer these questions by referring to the most popular products we have made for the mywear clothing collection sold at K-Citymarkets. We inform the K-Group about the responsibility requirements set for its suppliers. We will talk about our sourcing cooperation with the Swedish ICA, we will talk about the factory producing mywear T-shirts and the audits carried out there, and we will discuss cotton production and the sourcing of more sustainable cotton, ”Kalervo continues.
In the K-Group, the procurement of more sustainable cotton is guided by the cotton policy
Cotton is the most widely produced natural fiber in the world, and about half of textiles are cotton. There are risks associated with cotton production: cotton cultivation consumes a lot of water and the supply chain involves human rights risks. To manage these risks, procurement is guided by the K-Group’s cotton policy.
“Kesko is committed to ensuring that all cotton procured for its own clothing and home textile brands is more durable cotton by the end of 2025. More durable cotton is certified with organic cotton, recycled cotton, Better Cotton or Fair Trade cotton,” says Kalervo. .
The cotton of the mywear T-shirts tracked on Tracing Our Products is GOTS-certified organic cotton. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the world’s leading certification system for organic textiles.
The K-Group also opens the origins of tuna, roses and wood products
In addition to Mywear T-shirts, the Tracing Our Products website provides information on the origins and journey of all Pirkka and K-Menu canned tuna, Pirkka Fairtrade roses and PROF Timber to K-stores. More products that customers and other stakeholders want to know more about will be added to the website.
Source: K-Group
Source: The Nordic Page