Corporate Social Responsibility
OVERVIEW OF THE YEAR 2022
“2022 has been a year of growth on all fronts and with a special collab that will go down in the history books. We did a big collab with Hummel/DBU and designed a national team jersey and a complete clothing collection for the Danish national football team.
The late effects of Covid-19, production and transport bottlenecks, and fluctuating prices have marked the start of the year. In addition, the Russia/Ukraine conflict has left its mark in several ways.
It has required a great deal of effort from all departments in the company. But, overall, I am proud of the effort all around. A team that has been ready for change and ready to move quickly on things, in true BLS spirit. “
- Burim Miftari, CEO @ BLS Hafnia.
At BLS Hafnia, we’ve embarked on a sustainability mission called Sustainable Photoshoots. It is an initiative to revolutionize the conventional approach to overseas photoshoots. Typically, you’d have to fly the models, photographers, clothes, and equipment to the location. But we decided to be bold and innovative, making an impactful difference.
Instead, we’ve taken a radically different approach, sending only the clothes to be photographed. We have collaborated with local photographers and models, who have had free rein to express their creativity through the choice of locations and the design of the shoot itself. Not only does this move reduce our carbon footprint, but it also provides much-needed support to talented photographers and models internationally.
We’re passionate about making a positive impact and believe every effort counts, no matter how small. That’s why we’re excited to move toward a more sustainable future, one photo shoot at a time.
This initiative was carried out for our photoshoot in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, our Alpine Field Equipment, and NYC, USA, for the BLS x 888 collaboration and our SS23 collection.
SHIPMENTS FROM ASIA.
We have reflected on ways to improve the process behind our shipments from Asia. We will be responsible for arranging orders from Asia. We have chosen to have greater control and an overview of when and how our order is shipped to Denmark and to create the best conditions for varying the methods we use to get our order home.
In the past, we’ve primarily had our orders sent by plane, but now that we arrange shipments ourselves, it is more transparent and makes it easier to plan whether we can get orders home by ship, as an alternative, with a lower CO2 footprint.
NEW WAREHOUSE.
We have made changes to our warehouse. Previously, we had the majority of our stock in-house. We have moved all our inventory to an external partner responsible for packing and shipping all B2B and B2C orders. This means that our partner packs all orders in their packaging.
The paper bag, which is used, among others, to send orders, has a CO2 footprint 36% smaller than the plastic bag we used before. However, our CO2 footprint for cardboard has remained the same as before.
PACKAGING.
Previously, the individual supplier was responsible for all trim production. However, we’ve made a change to this. We have chosen to streamline our trim production by producing it in one place. This way, we are sure that our entire trim production is of the same quality and appearance and does not vary depending on whether it is European or Asian production.
Thus, we can also guarantee that all our trim, such as hang tags, size labels, polybags, etc., meet the standards we strive for, especially for more transparent production concerning the materials used and which certifications are completed.
ORIGIN.
Most of our production takes place in Portugal, but concerning the total weight, the distribution has decreased compared to 2020/2021. In addition, we have increased the production of our products in China by 10%
This increase in production is due to our Alpine collections, which have grown more significantly.
SHIPMENT.
Since most of our total production is in Portugal, and thus within the EU, our primary means of transport is by truck. And due to the relatively short distance, it is also the safest and most optimal means of transportation.
The amount of transport we use is primarily the same as we have used in previous years. Air transport stands for just under 10%.
Sea transportation is the most considerable amount we have used since we started measuring this form of transportation. For 2022, 6% of all our products will be transported home via ship.
84% of our production is within the EU and shipped home via truck. Thus, if this is put into perspective, 6% of sea transport, out of the remaining 16%, is a positive development we have gone through.
You can read our thorough CSR reports below.