February 8, 2019 Traceable & Transparent
Producing directly in Europe, with their own factories in Italy, Romania and Serbia, AKU has been able to trace every single component of their footwear. Now they’re taking the next step by making this information public.
Known for its efforts regarding sustainability and a responsible corporate governance, Italian footwear specialist AKU already concentrates 90 percent of its production in company-owned facilities in Italy, Romania and Serbia, thereby reducing the environmental impact caused by the transport of goods.
Naturally, AKU also pays close attention to where the various materials for their different shoes and boots come from. Behind closed doors, workers at AKU have continually monitored and evaluated the component origin of their entire collection, with the main goal to further shorten the supply chain.
Transparency to the people
But now, to give people – retailers and end users – a better insight into where the components of the European-made shoes actually come from, the company decided to share the information publicly. This traceability project starts with the Mountain Inspired line that is 100.percent designed in Italy and made in Europe.
To begin with, this will specifically focus on the two new premium models Bellamont Lux and Bellamont Gaia GTX. For both styles AKU provides an individual online chart at www.aku.it, listing each of the over fifty shoe components, their origin and the distance of the supplier from the AKU factories. Having just initiated the project, the long-term goal will be to step-by-step create such a specific chart for every single Made-in-Europe style in the collection.
Towards a product ID card
To promote and gauge the interest of the market and the end user on this important topic, AKU has recently launched an advertising campaign in Italy in several influential magazines within the outdoor sector. The positive feedback received thus far confirms the growing interest towards this responsible approach to production and consumer relations.
Following AKU’s unique-to-the-industry creation of an EPD report for the AKU Bellamont Plus model last year, this novel “ID card” for the individual product is the next major move towards full transparency.
