NEW ZEALAND: Icebreaker is taking its pursuit of product source transparency to a new level, adding socks to its online traceability programme.
From autumn/winter 2010, the outdoor apparel label will barcode its socks so the merino wool content can be tracked online back to its origin. Customers will be able to find out where in the New Zealand southern alps the wool was grown, spun and made into socks.
This is an extension of Icebreaker's Baacode programme which launched one year ago and enables customers to undertake the same process with apparel. 75,000 people have logged on to the brand's website to examine the supply chain of their purchase.
To facilitate this initiative, the company invested more than US$400,000 in software design.
Launched in 1994, Icebreaker sources its wool directly from farmers rather than material suppliers. It is committed to animal welfare and is against the practice of sheep mulesing.