Timberland, An Outdoor Footwear Company, Enters The Chinese Market With The Concept Of Environmental Protection.

November 16th, 8 mineral water bottles can make all the shoes and shoes needed for a pair of shoes. The shoes that are passed can be sent back to the door shop, on the shoes. Leatherwear Rubber and metal parts can be renovated and reused.

Timberland (Tian Bailan) Global CEO (CEO) and President JeffreySwartz pointed to the mineral water bottle and a pair of shoes on the table and told reporters: "the shoelaces and all the shoes of these shoes are made of recyclable plastic."

The international outdoor sports brand Timberland is tracking every pair of shoes. environmental protection Index. and Timberland The concept of environmental protection is also seen as a good card for China's retail industry.

The "green index" of shoes

Timberland started building its own environmental protection system in 2006. They claim that all this is to "let consumers make the right choice".

The green index (GreenIndEX) reflects product pairs in three ways. Environmental Science Impacts: climate impacts (greenhouse gas emissions generated by production); harmful chemicals (such as PVC and the presence of harmful substances in solvent adhesives); and resource consumption (whether recycling, organic and renewable energy materials) are used.

Using GreenIndex system to analyze a pair of Timberland canvas shoes, the result of this analysis will be obtained: raw materials of canvas shoes produce CO2e of 13.5KG and CO2e of 3.5KG generated in manufacturing process. According to the formula of the system, the score of climate impact is 1.5.

In terms of chemical use, the chemical index of these shoes contains the use of PVC and solvent adhesive, and the final assessment value is 7.5. The raw materials used for the production of these shoes can be scored 9 points, including 63% of the renewable bamboo fiber and 55% of the renewable hemp. Among them, sole and shoelace part are made of renewable plastic.

After the comprehensive evaluation of these three indices, the green index of these shoes is 6. This number will also be labeled as "nutrition label" on the shoebox. The score is generally 1-10 points, the lower the score of the more environmentally-friendly products, the 10 is the worst product.

According to Timberland, they are the only shoe makers who use such a green assessment system to evaluate their products. At the same time, they also send their employees "green bonus" through this index, and the better the product is, the more money the designer will make.

But since the introduction of the green assessment system in 2006, they have also found some problems. For example, in the leather making process, the use of chromium is always unavoidable. "Even if we use biological raw materials to make tanned leather, we need to use more fossil fuels. We can not decide which method is more environmentally friendly. So we can only remove the chromium from the system. JeffreySwartz said.

According to the green assessment of products, Timberland found that 96% of the carbon directly came from its products. The remaining 4% emissions come from headquarters, including travel, construction and so on.

According to this "self created" green assessment system, Timberland has calculated and concluded the carbon emission and resource utilization of its products and companies themselves. For example, compared with products produced in Paris in 2007 and 2008, the carbon emission score dropped by 40%, while the use of chemicals dropped by 8%, but in raw materials, the score increased by 2%.

After putting green labels on each pair of shoes, Timberland claims that its product will reduce CO2 by 20% annually. JeffreySwartz believes that this is a very bold goal for Timberland.

Measuring carbon emissions from suppliers

Will environmental protection materials lead to higher cost?

JeffreySwartz expressed no concern about this. The use of environmentally friendly materials can also reduce costs. Timberland green assessment system shows that using less materials or light materials has greater advantages, such as lightening the freight cost, minimizing the use of leather, and at the same time reducing the overall cost.

But there are many difficulties in material selection. For example, is cotton or polyester more environmentally friendly?

JeffreySwartz thinks that cotton is more environmentally friendly because polyester may use chemical compounds when making. But cotton clothing needs more water and detergent containing harmful chemicals throughout the life cycle.

Leather is an irreplaceable raw material for shoemaking enterprises on the choice of raw materials. JeffreySwartz, to be frank, is not good enough. For example, the pair of TimberlandEK2.0 on his feet, he said, the leather of these shoes is the highest standard of Timberland, which is produced in China, but it is still not enough environmental protection.

Timberland is a member of LWG (LeatherWorkingGroup). The organization also has Clarks, NewBalance, Nike and other brands. JeffreySwartz told reporters: Timberland requires all leather suppliers to accept the third party inspection provided by LWG. The evaluation results will directly affect their choice of suppliers.

At the same time, for any Timberland contract manufacturer, they will measure their carbon emissions to urge them to reduce their energy use.

To coordinate the entire industry chain, Timberland said the third party association is very helpful in this regard. For example, the environmental work group of outdoor sports industry (OIA) is specially responsible for coordinating and solving problems in the industrial chain.

At the same time, Timberland also exchanged information with OIA's eco working group to better understand the environmental performance index of supply chain intermediaries. They can also systematically track the environmental impacts of suppliers in terms of climate, chemicals and waste products.

Of course, the combination of other brands is also one of the ways the whole industry is currently seeking solutions.

"I don't like to sit in meetings with Nike and Adidas," JeffreySwartz laughs. "I don't think they like Timberland either, but we must push this problem forward, because the environment will directly affect our business." {page_break}

The goal is still the market.

"You may wonder why CEO started to care about the environment." JeffreySwartz said, "it's very simple. Timberland sells outdoor products. Without mountains and forests, my business will be gone."

JeffreySwartz told reporters: "and Nike and many other brand competition, we hope to give consumers a more reasonable choice. To let consumers know about things in factories, they should know whether manufacturers use environmentally friendly materials, whether they use new energy sources and how much raw materials they consume every day.

"I can honestly tell you that every CEO pays the most attention to business profits, but no CEO will ignore consumers' demands," JeffreySwartz told reporters. "Profit or environment? In fact, it is in the hands of consumers."

In the past, China has been an important production base for Timberland. Its official website shows that a large number of footwear and clothing are produced in southern China.

For the suspicion of "pollution transfer", JeffreySwartz told reporters: "before that, American companies came to China to transfer pollution. But those days are gone forever. In China, environmental protection has risen to the height of policy. You can't do business like that again. "

For the previously reported Timberland supplier Shanghai Fu Guo Leather Co., Ltd., JeffreySwartz responded that "it has been solved".

Obviously, Timberland attaches importance to "green" because China is their next big market.

When asked about Timberland's future goal in China, JeffreySwartz told reporters that China will become the second largest Timberland market in 5 years, next to the United States.

"We not only sell products to China, but develop the culture of outdoor sports in China. China has vast forests, deserts, oceans and mountains. These are potential markets for Timberland. " JeffreySwartz said.

According to the Wall Street journal, sales in Asia now account for only 10% of Timberland's total revenue. Japan is the largest market.

In early November, Timberland announced that net profit of US $52 million 200 thousand was achieved in the third quarter of this year. Among them, Asia grew by 19.7%, Europe by 5%, and North America by 3.6%.

Michael Harrison, senior vice president of Timberland international business (MichaelHarrISon), said that the company has been assessing the situation of the Chinese market in the past two years, and is also looking for suitable partners to form a joint venture.

Before Timberland, famous brands such as C&JClarkInternational, POLORalphLaurenCorp. and NauticaEnterprisESInc. have been developing the market in China.

This time, "environmental protection" seems to be a "main card" for Timberland to enter China's retail industry.

In November 11th, Timberland co operated with Beijing environment and exchange. Lee Hom, as the spokesman of his "earth hero", opened the first "carbon neutral" concert in China. At the same time, Timberland will continue to be planted in Horqin in the next ten years.

"Every company in the world will not ignore the Chinese market." JeffreySwartz said that Timberland had moved its headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai recently.