Puma opens up its supply chain to young environmental changemakers

Sports company Puma is offering four, young, environmental “voices” from across Europe and the US a “seat at the table” to review its sustainable practices and hold the brand accountable.

Puma is calling the initiative ‘Voices of a Re:Generation,’ as part of its ‘Forever Better’ sustainability plan. The year-long project will gather insights and feedback on the sportswear brand’s sustainability strategy and supply chain, while also challenging the “voices” to help it improve its efforts in communicating on sustainability.

In a statement, Puma said it hoped that the four young voices would help it translate sustainability “in a way that makes sense to and engages with the next generation,” and feed into how the brand can drive greater sustainability practices, in line with its 10 for 25 targets.

It adds that the work will take on an “honest and candid consultancy format,” and that the voices will meet three times a year with Puma’s chief sourcing officer, chief product officer and its sustainability team to share their perspectives and insights to identify areas where the brand can improve.

Puma adds on its website: “No lip service. No egos. Just upfront and honest discussion. Translated into action. So that together, we can drive real change. Four influential voices. One mission: To create a Forever Better. Together.”

Commenting on the new initiative, Anne-Laure Descours, chief sourcing officer at Puma, said: “We’ve always documented our progress in sustainable practices. However, our participation in the Conference of the People has shed light on the fact that the information we share isn’t always easily understood by the next generation.

“We recognise the need for change, and we're committed to making sustainability more accessible and transparent to everyone. Voices of a Re:Generation is our first step in improving this.”

Puma launches ‘Voices of a Re:Generation’ to address sustainability

Making up the ‘Voices of a Re:Generation’ for the year-long project include UK-based visual storyteller, documentarian and co-founder and impact-driven Earthrise Studio Alice Aedy, US-based upcycler Andrew Burgess, German-based sustainable and healthy living vlogger Luke Jaque-Rodney, and visual artist and creative consultant Jade Roche based in France.

On joining the project, Aedy said: “Sustainability is highly unglamorous, technical but urgent work with impacts for both people and planet. It’s undeniably a hugely complex topic. It’s deeper than just materials or emissions; it’s about the people and processes that strive behind the scenes to realise a brand’s efforts to be more sustainable and it’s also about how the brand, like Puma, is communicating that with authenticity.”

Burgess added: “Sustainability can’t be one-sided. You can’t have one brand calling the shots, especially when you have consumers worldwide interacting with your products. I’m looking forward to delving deep into Puma’s efforts and sharing my take on how they can improve. It’s time our generation had a seat at the table.”

The new initiative aims to build upon Puma’s commitment to ensuring its sustainability strategy is digestible for everyone, particularly for the next generation. This comes after research it conducted found that 71 percent of young people felt their voices weren’t being heard when it comes to the environment and would like to see brands making more commitments (49 percent), communicating their goals better (40 percent) and being more transparent (34 percent).