World Cup 2010: Jerseys and Wind Power

Most Americans won’t notice or care, but the World Cup begins tomorrow in South Africa, the first time the quadrennial soccer tournament will be held in Africa.  It’s a wonderful cultural event—I attended a game at Stanford when the USA hosted the tournament in 1994; landed in Argentina the day its team was knocked out of the quarterfinals in 2006 and witnessed the national melancholy; and left Holland this week just as all of Amsterdam was getting decked out in orange bunting.  Personally, I’m rooting for little Uruguay, currently ranked #16.

While South Africa celebrates being the world’s stage, the event is offering some interesting attempts at showing that a mega-event can have a reduced environmental impact.  The stadium in Port Elizabeth, named after Nelson Mandela, will source some of its power from wind; team jerseys that Nike manufacturers will be made from recycled plastic bottles;  and more city transit has been built.  Many pundits are cynical that an African nation can host such an event, but like the Olympics, the World Cup has been a Euro-centric event, and it’s time for Africa to have its moment in the spotlight.

One company that deserves mention during this World Cup is PUMA.  One of its suppliers, Impahla Clothing, has a compelling story.  Its founder, William Hughes, had to flee Zimbabwe when Robert Mugabe’s thugs decided that any white landowners had to be booted out.  Hughes moved his family to Capetown, where he bought a declining apparel business and turned it around.  Seven years later, his firm designed jerseys for four of Africa’s World Cup finalists.  While I was in Amsterdam, I saw him speak at a press conference where PUMA announced it has worked with 20 key suppliers to submit rigorous ESG (economic, social, and governance) reports to its shareholders.

ESG (the European term for corporate social responsibility, or “CSR”), has been a hot topic lately.  But what many folks out there forget to realize is that these days a company pitching a product has actually a small role in its products supply chain.  Cisco, for example, barely manufactures anything, contracting from manufacturers and slapping its logo on its product line of networking equipment; a McDonald’s french fry has countless companies contributing to its lifespan from potato to snack; and that polo shirt from H&M can count on many vendors from cotton field to the Beverly Center.  The trick for companies in showing that they are adhering to that triple bottom line is engagement from its suppliers and convincing them that disclosing their labor and procurement practices are the right thing to do.  But that’s a tough task:  many of these companies are small firms that don’t have the bandwidth to create an ESG or CSR report.

PUMA worked with Impahla and Mr. Hughes in publishing a 51-page sustainability report that is impressive for its frankness and transparency.  It is not a feel-good or marketing document:  Impahla documents its successes and challenges, and what it has done to address issues such as absenteeism or difficulty in purchasing locally produced raw materials.  Now Impahla is one of PUMA’s most trusted suppliers—and can bask in the glory knowing that its jerseys will be worn all over South Africa and the world.