Fast track: sports brands strive for 'greener' supply chains

Although recession has been uppermost in the minds of most people in the performance apparel industry, there was little sign of it at ISPO Winter 20091, held in Munich, Germany, in February 2009. There was also a marked absence of greenwash-the practice of making bold claims about environmental responsibility which do not hold up to close scrutiny. Many performance apparel companies in Europe have been reporting significantly increased sales of snow sportswear and equipment thanks to fantastic snow around the world in winter 2008/09. For example, the resort of Vail in Colorado, USA, is reported to have experienced its snowiest December for eight years. Sales have also been boosted by two major events-the Union Europ?(C)enne de Football Association (UEFA) Euro 2008 football championships, held in Austria and Switzerland in June 2008, and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, held in Beijing, China, in August 2008. That said, overall sales generated by speciality European sports retailers climbed rather modestly to Euro37.5 bn (US$54.8 bn) in 2008, compared with Euro37.0 bn in 2007, according to the Federation of European Sporting Goods Retail Associations (Fedas)-although other forecasts put sales higher.