Inside Outdoor Winter 2015

and brands. Says Gillespie, “The response

to this and the level of engagement by

brands working on the standard has

been amazing.”

The Fj

llr

ven Down

Promise

In 2009, as other players in the down

and feather universe were criticized by

animal rights groups for selling product

made from down collected from live

plucked and force-fed birds, Swedish

outdoor products maker Fj

llr

ven

decided to take a close look at its own

practices and suppliers and then devel-

oped its own standard.

llr

ven down is a by-product of the

food industry and is sourced from geese

raised primarily for food. The Fj

llr

ven

Down Promise guarantees that all

llr

ven products are made from ethical-

ly produced down. This includes having

full traceability from hatchling to finished

product and ensuring that geese have

the best living standards possible. To that

end Fj

llr

ven works with just one down

supplier, which is based in the Yangshou

province of China. The company further

promises that this down will never be

mixed with down from other sources.

The quality control system for this

standard includes regular inspections by

third-party organizations, including an

independent Swedish veterinarian who

checks living conditions, and visits from the

International Down and Feather Laborato-

ry (IDFL), an independent testing institute

that verifies the quality of cleanliness of the

down during the processing stage.

All down products will be marked

with the Fj

llr

ven Down Promise logo.

“Fj

llr

ven places high demands on all

of their products, but we are very careful

to ensure that our down is produced in

the most ethical manner,” says Aiko Bode,

chief sustainability officer for Fj

llr

ven.

“From the bird farms via the slaugh-

terhouse and down processors, to the

factories that make our final products, we

always strive to meet the best practices.”

DOWNPASS

Developed by the DOWNPASS

Association, and headquartered in

Germany, DOWNPASS is a down

certification program for the outdoor

apparel, sleeping bag and home fur-

nishing markets. DOWNPASS is based

on the standards specified in the Euro-

pean Convention for the Protection of

Animals Kept for Farming Purposes as

it relates to animal husbandry. Accord-

ing to the organization’s Web site, vets

and animal welfare organizations have

played “a significant role” in the devel-

opment of DOWNPASS standards.

The standard’s primary goal is

to develop and implement a glob-

ally recognized system that supports

production of down and feathers from

ethical sources. With DOWNPASS,

all finished products and down and

feather transport containers must be

traceable through the supply chain back

to the breeding farms.

The standard calls for

inspections, traceability

and audits carried out by

recognized, neutral third

parties. Also, products

bearing the DOWNPASS

label must not contain

feathers plucked from

live animals. Traceability

is provided at least to the

slaughterhouse. DOWN-

PASS also excludes the

use of feathers and down

from force fed birds.

Each standard involves

steps designed to reduce

or prevent animal cruelty

in the collection of feath-

ers and down. The next

logical step is adoption.

“Now that we’ve achieved

the tough standard of 100

percent traceable down

and [have] started raising

awareness among con-

sumers about the realities

of conventionally sourced

down, we want to encourage all other

companies to settle for nothing less in

their supply chains,” says Adam Fetcher,

a spokesperson for Patagonia.

Gillespie adds that Textile Ex-

change also is working aggressively

to educate the public about humanely

raised traceable down. Adoption

of any new standard can take time,

especially one that impacts so many

aspects of a supply chain. But once

people know about the issue, says

Gillespie, taking action seems to be

a natural next step. “In the end” she

adds, “it all comes down to the num-

ber of birds being protected.”

Geese farms that supply Fj

llr

ven down attempt to create a “natural setting” with water and space

for geese to roam in a flock.

Inside

Outdoor

Winter

2015