Doing sport makes you feel good. Buying ethical sports gear would surely make you feel even better. Etiko, a Melbourne based company specialising in Fairtrade and sustainable sports gear has captured a niche market. However, Nike, the sweatshop sinner of the 1990s, who actually inspired the creation of Etiko, is now rethinking its business. Find out what this means for smaller companies as the giants move to make ethical mainstream.
Its not news to Etiko, their founder Nick Savaidis was acutely aware of the positive impact that a company can have on people and communities – if it wanted to. Etiko’s ethically produced sportswear is the first non food range to receive Fairtrade certification and it is Savaidis’s hope that his range will triumph over the big brands such as Nike.
The competition is on as the big brands have cottoned on to the fact that today’s customers are looking more critically at products. Nike’s CEO Mark Parker realises that doing the right thing in terms of waste reduction, renewable energy and factory conditions is good for business. In Nike’s 2007-2009 sustainability report the CEO admits past mistakes with respect to labour conditions. Their new focus is on transparency and innovation to, in their words, ‘prototype the future rather than retro fit the past’. Eco-design is the new buzz word and when developing products, consideration is now given to everything involved with bringing a product to market, from raw materials sourcing to transportation. They have also sought to reduce the impacts of their manufacturing activities through the use of renewables such as solar and wind power on some of their facilities.
When big companies move into the sustainability arena, they bring money, resources and power, and can have a significant sway in terms of the performance of their supply chain which can only be a good thing. But where does that leave companies like Etiko?
Without the big marketing budgets of the big competitors, their success comes about through word of mouth, and whilst performance of products is key to their success, it seems they have a no compromise approach. While for Nike, sustainability is an add on, for Etiko it truly is core to the business and many consumers will go to great lengths to buy into that.
Etiko is a niche brand, and like other ethical brands, these products have a personality and a story which brands like Nike will have trouble matching.
Etiko’s awards
The 2008 Premier’s Sustainability Award – Small Business (Victoria),
2008 Banksia Environmental Foundation Award – Business Sustainability,
2008 Telstra Business Award – Social Responsibility (Victoria)
Winner of the 2008 FSC Responsible Forest Management Awards – Small Chain of Custody Operator of the Year.
