HUMAN RIGHTS IN SUSTAINABLE OUR SUPPLY CHAIN RETAIL 3 ONGOING DIALOGUE, For example, in 2008, during the financial ENGAGEMENT, AND crisis, a large number of our suppliers faced IMPROVEMENT major financial stress due to the rapid and unexpected drop in demand for their goods Our relations with our suppliers has always and the increasing pressure on prices from been driven by the wish to build long-term the industry. partnerships. From this perspective, our commitment is not only to ensure they meet What was important for us was not to obtain our standards, but also to help them improve short-term financial advantage, but to support their way of working and adopt sustainable and sustain our strategic supplier base. practices. We consider them to be an integral Without this base, we wouldn’t have been able part of our value chain, and we want them to operate over the long term. For this reason, to have the same long-term vision of value we confirmed long-term orders to secure the creation. Beyond audits, we require our most production planning of our suppliers, and, strategic suppliers to report on a selection in certain instances, afforded them shorter of CSR key performance indicators, covering payment terms to help their liquidity. social and environmental issues, and the traceability and CSR performance of their To increase traceability and sustainability of own supply chain. We use these KPIs in annual certain commodities, or particularly complex business reviews to benchmark and improve supply chains where it is hard to make ongoing supplier performance. progress, we participate in multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), to take advantage of The responsibility for our suppliers’ compliance our collective leverage for effecting positive with our responsible-sourcing policy is at the change. For example, to address systemic heart of our purchasing teams’ mission. Our issues such as child labor, we engage focus on creating value over the long term, with partners such as the ILO to find enabled by our independence, means we can long-term solutions. engage suppliers on more than cost and short- term financial-performance considerations. This is critical for effectively remediating social, environmental, and governance issues.