Supply Chain Transparency at its Finest
McDonald’s is prepared to reveal the supply chains of some of its most popular products including the Big Mac and Happy Meal.
In a strong display of supply chain transparency, the fast food giant has launched a series of videos, allowing consumers a rare glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes. Sixteen members of the public were invited to participate as Quality Scouts, and see how every step of McDonald’s production functioned. Their experiences were recorded, and they were invited to follow up with a report of what they learned.
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Protecting Workers’ Welfare
Over 70 international retailers signed the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement, with the hopes of preventing another tragedy like the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. Patagonia, a California based clothing company, has taken things a step further to ensure the well-being of its employees in the developing world. As the saying goes; actions speak louder than words.
Patagonia has made a concerted effort to ensure its workers are properly trained and versed in fire safety through co-funding a fire safety training initiative with three other brands. Other actions taken include a project with the human rights organization Mamata to provide satellite medical clinics for factory workers in Bangladesh’s not easily accessed rural areas. To top it off, the outdoor apparel brand is a member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a non-profit organization which screens part of Patagonia’s supply chain yearly to ensure the brand meets FLA’s 10 Principles of Fair Labor and Responsible Sourcing. The FLA also publishes Patagonia’s audit reports on its website.
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The Great Wine Shortage of 2014
The latest findings published by US services firm Morgan Stanley reveal that the global demand for wine exceeds the current supply available — the world is facing a wine shortage. The causes of the shortage are twofold: the consumption of wine worldwide has increased since 1996, and is currently around 3bn cases per annum. At the same time, only around 2.8bn cases are produced each year. Reasons as to why the number of cases being made is not meeting demand are partially blamed on lower production in Europe due to poor weather and vine pull, with production across the continent falling by about 10% since 2012.
In order to fulfill current consumption demands, suppliers will inevitably turn to selling previous vintages. The authors of the report, Morgan Stanley’s analysts Tom Kierath and Crystal Wang, expect that as inventories continue to deplete, there will be a strong increase in export demand, and thus higher prices worldwide.
Wine producing countries such as Chile, New Zealand and Australia, however, could profit from such circumstances. These nations have been consistently increasing wine output in recent years.
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