Volcom’s parent company Kering (formerly called PPR) is injecting a wave of resources that allows Volcom to increase sustainability efforts and reduce emissions, waste and water usage across its entire brand.
All brands under the Kering portfolio will now be required to complete comprehensive Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L) reports by 2016.
As part of the EP&L, Volcom is pledging to do the following by 2016:
– Reduce the company’s carbon emissions, waste and water usage by 25%
– Ensure there is no PVC in any of its collections
– Source paper and packaging items sustainably from recycled sources and/or certified well-managed forests
– Increase the amount of sustainable materials and processes in all product mixes
– Certify major surf events as Deep Blue Surfing Events
– Continue Give Backs to community-based programs
The initiative allows all Kering brands to be transparent about their environmental impacts, and also serves as a risk management tool. It is also a way for the company to showcase itself as a leader on an important topic, according to Derek Sabori, Senior Director of Volcom’s Department of Sustainability.
I talked to Derek Sabori about all that was involved in this new EP&L reporting process, what it’s like working with Kering’s sustainability group, and what this means for business.
What is involved with this EP&L process?
An Environmental Profit and Loss Account (EP&L) is a process of diving into your supply chain, unraveling it, understanding it, mapping it all out – all the way back to the raw materials and their origins (take cotton farming for example) – assessing the environmental impacts of each step, in each process, and then assigning a dollar value to those impacts.
Another way to look at it: It’s about internalizing our externalities – taking into account the impacts that are created by the production and manufacturing of our products, and accounting for them. Things like air pollution, water pollution, land use, GHG emissions.
From there, we’ll be better poised to strategically take actions to lower those impacts because the EP&L analysis will reveal where the biggest impact areas are and where we can then be more effective in directing our sustainability efforts.
What resources does Kering bring to the table?
The team at Kering, especially the Kering Sustainability Department, is phenomenal. We’re completely supported by energy and transportation specialists, reporting specialists, change management specialists, outside consultants and more.
There’s a network of sustainability managers and sustainability leads at all the brands, and the Kering Sustainability Department is constantly encouraging us and steering us to stay on track providing workshops, guidelines, and support committees. All these efforts ensure the momentum stays steady and that we are implementing best practices and leveraging synergies from other brands.
Additionally, the commitment and drive for sustainability from the board and the CEO’s office makes for the perfect storm. You’ve got a staff that’s excited for change, an executive team here at Volcom that’s fully on-board, and the parent company leading the charge. In my role, I couldn’t ask for more.
How important are these issues to Volcom’s consumers?
Good question. I hope they’re important to them – the world can’t afford for them not to be. In fact, I’d like to make a challenge to our consumers who don’t have these issues on their radar to put them on there. Challenge us back. Unfortunately, if we waited for the consumer to fully come around and demand it from us, I think we might be waiting for a while. There are plenty out there, however, who are in tune and who are keeping an eye on how we do business and that encourages me.
See Page 2 for information on how existing eco products have been received by consumers, more
How has the eco initiatives sold thus far? Can you give examples of some of the eco products? Any metrics you can give on sell through of eco-products would be helpful.
We’ve been offering products with more sustainable offerings since 2006, and we’ve been a 1% for the Planet member for that collection ever since. We’ve seen sales go up and down in the line just like any other part of the line – you’ve got you’re A styles, your B styles and so on.
Some of my favorite styles have been offered just within in the last year: Styles like our Reclaim Sandal made from reclaimed cutting room EVA scraps, and our Chemical Free and Water Saving Jeans – these were a good hit and are still in stores right now. Just out too, are tees made with Repreve yarns – polyester made from recycled plastic bottles. Lastly, check out our products that are V.Co-logical and Giving Back – we’ve partnered with Sea Turtle Restoration Project to donate 5% of sales back to the protection of endangered sea turtles.
As for metrics? In 2012, we shipped over $5 Million in V.Co-logical Series product, our biggest year yet. Our goal moving forward is to take what we’ve learned while building the V.Co-logical Series, and to make it a more significant portion of our business and for it to be a part of more and more of our products.
Can you talk a little bit about the Pipe contest and how it was received? Was this the first year you took so many steps to make the Pipe Contest more sustainable or has this been ongoing and since when?
We’ve had a great run with the contest so far and while we’ve been blessed with amazing waves each year, we’ve also been able to build a network of people who are willing to help us make it such a unique sustainability event. That said, this was not the first year the event was run in a more sustainable fashion. It’s the first year that we worked with SustainableSurf.org to certify it as a Deep Blue Surf Event, but the two years prior to that were very similar.
We’ve got a great partner there on the ground – Jen Homcy at TR3EES – who really helps make it happen. We’ve done things like turn previous year’s vinyl banners into the next year’s tote bags, serve bulk water with branded reusable bottles, source local food, compost food scraps, and this year, thanks to the efforts of SustainableSurf, we ran the generators for the event on biodiesel. We learn so much each year, and the partners we work with are a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.
Something else that made this year special was the fact that it was all put together in a story. Filmmaker Nathan Peracciny documented the journey and the team behind the building of a more sustainable surf event and we couldn’t be happier with the end piece.
Readers can check out the film called Volcom Pipe Pro 2013: Sustainable by Design on our Volcom YouTube channel.
See Page 3 for Volcom’s official press release about its new Environmental Profit & Loss effort
Press Release:
ACTION SPORTS LEADER VOLCOM LAUNCHES ENVIRONMENTAL PROFIT & LOSS AND COMMITS, ALONG WITH PARENT COMPANY, TO REDUCE EMISSIONS, WASTE AND WATER USAGE
Costa Mesa, CA. – April 10th, 2013 – The turn of the year brought in a lot of new things for Volcom and amid the transition to a new CEO was the re-tooled Company Mission to include an increased focus on sustainability for the 22 year old, Orange County based action sports leader. The commitment, while on the company radar since 2006, has been strengthened in partnership with its parent company Kering* and the Kering Sustainability Team.
Since 2006, Volcom has offered a range of products under the V.Co-logical Series collection, contributing 1% of the sales to environmentally focused non-profits, thanks to the company’s 1% for the Planet membership. These days, however, the company is digging deeper with a very specific strategy and is uncovering what it means to truly offer products and run a business who’s environmental impacts are lessened.
“We have a real opportunity to influence change,” Jason Steris, Volcom’s newly appointed CEO said. “Our investments in a yearly EP&L will help us make better decisions regarding our impact on the environment and will help us better manage long term risks as we grow the company.”
An EP&L or Environmental Profit & Loss, as introduced first by PUMA in 2010 and committed to by Kering, is a means of placing a monetary value on a company’s environmental impact along the entire supply chain of a select set of products and as 2013 began, so did Volcom’s first forays into their initial EP&L for their apparel products. To aid them in the process, Volcom has retained the services of Steve Richardson at Material STEPS, the former Director of Material Development at Patagonia.
Supply chain scrutiny is one part of the company’s comprehensive approach and included in Volcom’s 3-year sustainability plan are additional goals to be reached by 2016:
• Reducing the company’s carbon emissions, waste and water usage by 25%
• Ensuring there is no PVC in any of their collections
• Sourcing paper and packaging items sustainably from recycled sources and/or certified well-managed forests
• Increasing the amount of sustainable materials and processes in all product mixes
• Certifying major surf events as Deep Blue Surfing Events™
• Continuing Give Backs to community-based programs
Volcom’s sustainability strategy is managed by Derek Sabori, the company’s Senior Director of Sustainability, who notes that, “There’s still so much work to be done, but we’ve spent a lot of time instilling our sustainability principles into the DNA of the company. The building blocks and the blueprint are there. Now it’s time to execute.”
Keep up with progress on the company’s sustainability commitments at Volcom.com/newfuture.
About Volcom, Inc.
Volcom is a modern global lifestyle brand that embodies the creative spirit of youth culture. The company was founded in 1991 on the principles of liberation, innovation and experimentation, and this is uniquely expressed in its quality clothing, footwear, accessories and related products under the Volcom brand name. For more information, please visit www.volcom.com. Volcom is part of the Kering Group*, a world leader in apparel and accessories which develops an ensemble of powerful Luxury and Sport & Lifestyle brands. https://www.kering.com
* PPR will become Kering, subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting on June 18th, 2013.
