If you are concerned with animal welfare in wool products, then take a very close look at Ortovox. And if you happen to be at ISPO, come by our GreenroomVoice booth in Hall A4 to hear them speak at the Transparency Tour on Tuesday at 11.00 am, they do have a journey to share…

The ORTOVOX WOOL PROMISE (OWP) – a new, and challenging industry standard for wool

ORTOVOX sources its merino wool from sheep grown in Tasmania and the wool for insulation from sheep grown in Switzerland. We nominate the farms where the wool comes from and visit them regularly. We commit to long-term contracts with the wool growers and we have engaged with all players in the supply chain to improve transparency and traceability. Through the ORTOVOX WOOL PROMISE we aim to promote best practice in animal welfare and land management on farm level. We want to meet the concerns of our consumers and of non-government organizations and simultaneously support management practices that echo our values and beliefs. As we also care what happens to the sheep after they leave the farm, we also keep attention to how they are transported and where and how are they slaughtered. That operators are quality assured and use humane practices. Since these aspects are not necessarily part of the wool supply chain but concern the meat industry, addressing these questions is a huge challenge.

The OWP provides assurance for customers that FARM PRODUCTION SYSTEMS meet STANDARDS in:

FARM MANAGEMENT

ANIMAL WELFARE

SLAUGHTER AND TRANSPORT

LAND MANAGEMENT

Assurance of the ‘wool journey’ also continues after the farm gate, as the wool moves through the supply chain. We want to ensure for our consumers that OWP wool moves from our certified farms to our Mountain wear garments. The OWP audits represent the base on which we want build a traceability certification in order to verifiably communicate this process. For us auditing is only the beginning. We will continue to engage with our whole supply chain. In regular roundtable meetings with all involved stakeholders we want to facilitate communication, partnership and best-practice sharing with the aim of constantly increasing transparency.