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PROMOTA
Member Case study: Mantis World
PROMOTA member Mantis World has an interesting philosophy when it comes to its products
and how they are produced – Made for impact, just not on the earth. We spoke to Prama
Bhardwaj, managing director of Mantis World about the company’s production methods and
how the industry is facing up to the issues surrounding ethics and the environment.
Can you give us a little bit of detail about factory meets international labour standards as set needed employment and value addition in Africa
Mantis World, and how you produce your out by the ILO, the OECD and United Nations. as part of our “Trade not Aid” ethos. Our
product ranges? Tanzanian and Ugandan organic cotton farmers
Mantis World offers high quality, ethically made In what ways is the Mantis World clothing receive a premium for their certified organic cotton
clothing for adults, children and babies to the environmentally friendly? very similar to Fairtrade. Our farmers also receive a
imprintables market. We work closely with our The organic cotton which is used in our ‘Tender guaranteed purchase volume, which offers better
factories in Tanzania, East Africa and other Loving Clothing’ (TLC) is very sustainable. The stability than the Fairtrade system under which any
suppliers to ensure that everything we do meets collection is environmentally friendly because it is surplus is sold at conventional prices with no
requirements for ethical and environmentally made with 100 per cent GM-free certified organic benefit to the farmer. We have however been in
friendly production. We strive for transparency at cotton, which is processed without the use of any regular contact with the Fairtrade Foundation for
every stage of production – working with vertically damaging chemicals or pesticides. This collection several years to get the scheme set up in East
integrated mills for over 90 per cent of our range holds GOTS certificate (Global Organic Textile Africa.
so we know exactly where and how every process Standard) which covers environmental impact,
takes place. social compliance and transparency for every step What are your thoughts about the
of production and distribution. promotional clothing industry as a whole?
How does Mantis World support ethical Do you think others could be doing more
practice? Why don’t the Mantis World products carry to be ethically and environmentally
As a company we support fair trade, fair wages the Fairtrade mark? sound?
and fair working conditions, along with reasonable Currently there are no Fairtrade certified cotton Customers and consumers are obviously much
working hours. We have absolutely no child labour, farmers in East Africa where our factory is based. more aware of ethical and environmental issues
no forced labour, no migrant workforce and no However, we feel that it would be unfair to move and now demand information about the origins
discrimination of any kind. The Mantis World range our factories and penalise the farmers we have and credentials of their clothing. The industry has
achieved the highest marks during social worked with for decades simply because a in general risen to this however there is a
compliance and ethical audits for the BSCI European standard is not yet available to them. We significant risk of ‘greenwashing’ in our industry.
(Business Social Compliance Initiative), and our also believe it is more important to keep much Quotes such as “the greenest T shirt on the
planet” or claims of making zero impact on the
world are misleading, undermine trust and
customers get cynical. To be authentic and instill
trust, manufacturers and suppliers should be
factual and honest (about both their
achievements and where they can still improve).
Most importantly perhaps, the whole industry
should understand that the price model may vary.
If we don’t want unsafe, environmentally unsound
and sweatshop made products, we might need to
pay a little more.
Everyone in the supply chain from the
manufacturer, distributor to the client may need to
revise their margin expectation to make sure the
right product can hit the market at the right price.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk September 2009 | 53 |
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