To help us become a more ethical and responsible company we have identified five important focus areas.

Our five focus areas include transparency, creating forward-thinking products, minimizing plastics, ethical and fair working conditions, and customer engagement.

Transparency is necessary for us to know the many processes throughout our supply chain, understanding our impact and together with our partners reduce it and find better solutions. We will do this by systematically mapping our partners, honestly sharing knowledge, identifying risk countries and by building strong supplier relations.

SUPPLIER MAPPING – COMPLYING WITH SDG #12

Transparency requires a constant mapping of every supplier involved. We are continuously working to keep track and record of the suppliers in every tier of our supply chain:

• Tier 1: The finals stage of production, usually the cutting and sewing facilities that make our designs come to life
• Tier 2: The steps that transform materials into textiles such as knitters/weavers, dyeing, printing, and other wet processing units
• Tier 3: The very beginning of our products journey, which includes the raw material suppliers, such as farmers or textile recyclers, and yarn spinners

HONESTY & KNOWLEDGE SHARING – COMPLYING WITH SDG #12

We openly share our CSR work, along with our policies. To share insight into this on going process and the challenges we face, we annually publish a CSR-report. We have established a dedicated CSR contact point, where we encourage people to share input that can help us improve. This contact is also available to answer any questions concerning our CSR work. Please write to responsibility@baumundpferdgarten.com.

RISK COUNTRIES – COMPLYING WITH SDG #6 & 10

To help us evaluate and prioritise where risks are present, we use the Amfori BSCI country risk classification. The classification highlights the countries where we need to be extra aware of the treatment of the workers.

Our last available split between risk and non-risk countries is shown in the graph below.

SUPPLIER RELATIONS – COMPLYING WITH SDG #12

We believe in engaging dialogue, improving practices and fixing problems rather than abandoning them. Terminating a contract with a supplier is always the last resort. We define our long terms suppliers as those we have worked with for at least five years. While we use external audits to gain insight into our suppliers' facilities, we also aim to visit them on a regular basis. Personal visits both help us improve our relationship and to first-hand ensure our standards.

We will implement best practices to create better products suitable for a better future. Carefully managing our chemicals, setting strict requirements and discontinuing those that do harm, ensures the safety of both our customers, workers and the environment.

Our ultimate goal is longevity and design with a full circle mindset, using materials and processes with a lower environmental impact, which can be a part of a closed-loop system - this is our definition of a forward-thinking product. Several components are important in this process: better materials, recyclable products, innovation, improving processes and chemical awareness.

BETTER MATERIALS - COMPLYING WITH SDG # 6, 12 AND 15

Our choice of materials is a crucial factor, when creating forward-thinking products, as it affects up to 50% of our
environmental footprint. When we choose materials, it must complement design and function. Our characterization of a better material can be narrowed down to five C’s:

• Cares for the planet - The environmental footprint of the material is considerably lower than its conventional counterpart.
• Cares for the animals - The treatment of animals involved is with dignity.
• Compliments form - The material does not require excessive manipulation, additives, and finishing to achieve the desired look.
• Compliments function - The material can withstand the wear and tear expected from the final products use without extraordinary care.
• Compliments longevity - The material is durable and of a high enough quality to withstand several years of use.

We have created our material benchmarking that serves as a tool for our designers and product developers to work systematically in making better material choice.

• Favoured materials represent those we define as the better choice.
• Good materials represent those we consider the better choice, when used in moderate amounts.
• Problematic materials represent those that we aim to minimize the use of and replace with good or favoured materials.
• Banned materials represent those that under no circumstances are acceptable in our products.

* Mohair is banned unless from audited farms, complying with the Mohair Industry Sustainable Guidelines

** Synthetics including but not limited to polyester, nylon, elastane.

We must evaluate the way our products are handled during shipping and think smart to reduce our plastic use. We have signed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's global commitment for a new plastic economy committing ourselves to be a positive contributor in a worldwide partnership.

Plastic is a necessary material for us in many aspects, whether it’s making sure our products are protected during transport or as a versatile and strong fabric.

REDUCING OUR USE OF PLASTIC – COMPLYING WITH SDG # 12

While we cannot terminate entirely the use of plastics today, we are working towards substituting it with better solutions, reduce the use whenever possible and use as much recycled plastics and recycled synthetic fibres as possible.

In our efforts to minimise plastic we have joined The New Plastics Economy initiative founded by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.12 Joining this initiative gives us the fundamental knowledge, network and commitment to eliminate unnecessary plastics while ensuring that all plastic we do use have been recycled, are recyclable and/or are compostable.

We have already eliminated plastic carrier bags and replaced them with reusable cotton tote bags at our store.

We aim to inform and guide our consumers to proper care and washing of synthetics to help catch micro plastics when washing.

We demand that all people in our supply chain are treated with respect and be free from any discrimination or unfair treatment. Every worker must be paid in accordance with their efforts and skills, not based on who they are. When animals are used in our production, we will ensure they are treated with dignity and respect based on the Five Freedoms standard.

It is our responsibility to take care of the people who contribute to the making of our products and to have diversity in our supply chain. Our Code of Conduct, combined with an open dialogue with our suppliers, make sure that working together with us is always for fair wage and under proper conditions - honest work for honest pay.

The obligation towards fair treatment goes for every living being in our supply chain, and when animals are part of our production, we do our utmost to make sure that they are treated with dignity with the use of our Animal Welfare Policy.

HUMAN RIGHTS & HONEST WORK - COMPLYING WITH SDG #10

We collaborate and engage in dialogue with suppliers through our supply chain to secure proper working conditions, fair wages, a healthy work-life balance, and pay for overtime. We must make sure we set realistic requirements. Therefore, we engage in conversation with our suppliers to discuss realistic lead times and deadlines. We always pay our suppliers on time and do not demand unreasonably low prices, to ensure that workers are paid fairly and on time.

We want people to be free from any discrimination based on age, cultural heritage, nationality, sexuality, religion or gender. We demand that people throughout our supply chain are paid according to their qualifications and have equal possibilities to grow. We have zero-tolerance for any harassment and persecution of any kind. All of this is encompassed in our Human Rights Policy and Code of Conduct.

ANIMAL WELFARE - COMPLYING WITH SDG #12

When using materials from animals, we take on the responsibility to make sure that they are treated with respect and without any cruelty.

Our Animal Welfare Policy defines and sets high standards for the proper treatment of animals. In no way do we accept any form of animal abuse, such as mulesing, live-plucking or force-feeding.

For further details see our Animal Welfare Policy

We cannot do it alone, and it will be our mission to inform our customers on how to use our products in the best way possible. We want to obtain this by giving proper instructions to care for the garments, providing our customers with the possibility of repairing a damaged garment and lastly encourage sharing and re-selling.

Involving our customers is necessary if we want to ensure the ultimate longevity of our products. We will encourage the proper care of our garments and ensure our products are used for as long as possible. We also have a duty to make sure that our products are disposed of in a responsible way.