Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
104
“
Even before sustainability and trans-
parency became household terms,
Saga Furs had become the fur industry
pioneer in providing openness along
production chains,” says Director of
Communications / CSR Päivi Mononen-
Mikkilä. “This applies to coopera-
tion with partners within Saga Furs’
sphere of influence as well as processes
over which the company has direct
control. That we were the first in the
trade to create CSR policy and to join
the UN Global Compact is also note-
worthy.”
A garment bearing the Saga Furs® label
on fashion runways carries the values
of transparency demanded by consum-
ers. The Saga Traceability System allows
every pelt sold at auction to be traced
back to the farm of origin. All Saga Furs
pelts come from European farms and
are barcoded at the source to allow iden-
tification along the production chain.
In phases between an auction – dress-
ing, logistics, manufacture – Saga
Furs helps partners find services from
companies that share our concerns for
transparency. The traceability of the
entire production chain, the fact that
important stakeholders can assess it as
objectively as possible, and the gradual
inclusion of fur farm certification in
the Saga Furs quality criteria are the
company’s most important tools for
increasing its own control over the
products it sells. Quality criteria begin
on a fur farm.
Farm Certification System goes
beyond what is required
Saga Furs has supported–and played an
active role in– the Finnish Fur Breeders’
Association’s (ProFur) Farm Certification
System, launched in 2005. The program
raises fur-farming standards above those
recommended by the EU and has proven
to be a major success.
Transparency may not be the first thing that comes to mind when a fashionista gasps in awe
at a stunning fur creation on a Paris, New York, London, or Milan runway, but transparency
is a central value in consumer consciousness. As a fur auction house, Saga Furs promotes in-
novative transparency: upstream at farms where the company sources only quality European-
produced pelts, and downstream among partners in creative phases resulting in fashion.
Providing Quality
and Transparency
for consumers
saga furs
By Charles Ferro, Saga Furs