The Oberalp Group, which owns SALEWA, DYNAFIT, POMOCA, WILD COUNTRY, and EVOLV, unveiled its 2020 Sustainability Report and reaffirmed its commitment to a unique and comprehensive strategy focused on employee wellness, safe factory conditions, philanthropy and environmental sustainability.
The Oberalp Group published its Sustainability Report for the sixth consecutive year. Thinking and acting sustainably is part of the family culture and pervades in every decision of the company.
Despite challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Oberalp Group was able to live up to a rigorous set of standards for sustainability and social responsibility in 2020.
Highlights of the 2020 report include:
- Attaining “Leader” status from the Fair Wear Foundation for the fourth consecutive year for the company’s work in improving factory working conditions
- Shifting to using recycled polybags for all apparel items from its Fall/Winter 2020 collections
- Eliminating the use of Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) from its proprietary Powertex waterproof membranes starting from the Spring/Summer 2020 collection
- Conducting more than 4,500 tests on its products to ensure they comply with the company’s stringent chemical policy
- Extending social monitoring to its hardware factories in Taiwan
The company also launched the new brand LaMunt, a premium mountain sports brand by women for women that uses either natural materials, recycled materials or PFC-free durable weather-resistant treatments in all of its products.
“In certain areas, we are very satisfied with the successes achieved, where we are among the pioneers in the industry. In other areas, we are making progress and have reached important milestones, but still have challenges to overcome to meet our goals. When it comes to sustainability, the sector is in constant evolution and there are many new issues. In certain areas, the whole industry is still very much at the beginning”, said Ruth Oberrauch, member of the founding family and head of sustainability.
- The Oberalp Group’s sustainability strategy is divided into five focus areas under two main categories: Empowering people
- Engineering gear.
