Thank you

4 Chemin des Brumes T: +41 (0) 22 367 94 40

1263 Crassier E: info@tft-forests.org
Switzerland W: www.tft-forests.org
DO YOU KNOW YOUR PRODUCT STORIES?
CONTENTS

Product stories 03

Delivering Responsible Products 06

Our background 08

How we deliver 09

Why tft? 10

Engage with us 11
4 Chemin des Brumes
1263 Crassier
Switzerland
W: www.tft-forests.org
DO YOU KNOW
YOUR PRODUCT
STORIES?
Every product has a story. From extraction of the raw
materials to disposal of the end product, it’s a complex tale
that impacts people and the environment.
Are you aware of your own product stories? If so, are you
proud of them?

Extraction Production Distribution Consumption Disposal

Rapidly changing regulations and consumer
values means leading companies are
compelled to learn more about their product
stories. Companies are increasingly expected
to be aware of the social and environmental
impacts of their supply chains all the way
back to the raw material source. New
communication technologies that are
spreading across the globe are accelerating
this trend towards greater transparency.
This creates significant risks to brand equity
but like any major market transformation
also brings considerable business
opportunities. At TFT we believe the key to
minimising risk and maximising benefits is
through credible action on the ground.
Companies need to ensure that the products
they create are responsible; Responsible
Products respect the environment and
improve people’s lives at all points of the
supply chain. We believe companies taking
this business, rather than CSR, approach to
sustainability ultimately benefit from:

Enhanced Reputation: Reliable Supply:

product responsibility strengthens the bond with ever more pressure on natural
with customers, motivates employees and resources and increased volatility in
influences shareholders. commodity markets, securing reliable
access to sustainable raw materials is
Cost Savings: becoming a strategic asset.
close monitoring of supply chains for social
and environmental impacts often produces
efficiencies that yield innovation and
unanticipated cost reductions.

At TFT we believe the key

to minimising risk and
maximising benefits is
through credible action
on the ground.
Yet tackling sustainability issues far down
the supply chain can be particularly complex
and is often distant from a company’s core
business and markets. TFT supports its
Members through this transformation,
giving objective insight into the realities of
the supply chain and the practical support
needed to unlock real value for their
business and for society.
DELIVERING
RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTS

TFT is a global non-profit organisation that

helps companies and communities deliver
Responsible Products.
We’re active at the key stages of the supply
chain, providing unrivalled technical
support (extraction and production) and
communications support (distribution and
consumption):

We’re hands-on, focusing our

supply chain expertise on a
broad range of products
TFT Supply Chain Model
NGOs
Technical
Support
Extraction Production Distribution Consumption
We’re hands-on, focusing our supply chain
expertise on a broad range of products
including wood, paper, palm oil, cotton,
leather & beef. We are a trusted partner
that gives its members objective insight
into the realities of their supply chains
and the practical support needed to create
responsible products.
Regulators
Communications
Support
From forests and farms in Indonesia, Brazil
and Cameroon, to factories in China and
India, and retail stores across Europe,
the United States and Australasia, our
experts are on the ground, making real
change happen, helping companies and
communities deliver Responsible Products.
OUR BACKGROUND
TFT has more than a decade’s experience
helping businesses deliver Responsible
Products. We were created to help retailers in
Europe who were being vilified at the time
for selling wooden garden furniture from
endangered forests. The charges were true,
but the problem defied an easy solution.
The TFT intervention was a game-changing
event for the marketing of forest products.
It established that sourcing transparency
in the supply chain begins not at the
factory, but in the forest. TFT proved that
forests are best conserved when the flow
of Responsible Products to market creates
wealth for entrepreneurs at all points in the
supply chain.
We continue to apply this unique approach
in wood products and beyond by working
in collaboration with business, industry,
NGOs, local communities, indigenous
peoples, governments and individual
experts. TFT is here to help you deliver.
HOW WE
DELIVER

TFT’s action is about credible

implementation on the ground. Our model
is rooted in supply chain transparency and
responsibility, which we achieve with the
following 5 key activities:

1. M
 ap the supply chain and
identify key social and
environmental risks;
2. S
 et up a traceability system
all the way back to the raw
material source;
3. Provide technical
assistance on the
ground to help tackle key
sustainability risks;
4. Achieve legal compliance
and certification where
credible standards exist;
5. C
 ommunicate your
changing product story
to stakeholders.
WHY TFT?
We are business-minded
We are a non-profit organisation using
a business model to help uncover and
transform product stories. Our objective is
product responsibility, not maximising profit.
We make the connection
between businesses and
civil society
We help our members manage their
reputational risks by working with them
to set up credible action plans followed by
transparent reporting to NGOs and the
media. We provide an independent and
trusted voice for assisting parties to find
ways to move forward.
Our focus is on products
We are involved at the boardroom level and
offer CSR guidance, but the core of our
approach is on the ground, understanding
product stories and how by working in
the supply chain we can positively
transform a product’s impact on people
and the environment.
We work on the ground
We work directly in forests, farms, factories
and stores all around the world to help move
entire supply chains towards responsibility.
We believe in concrete, field-based action
and solutions.
We bring unrivaled supply
chain expertise
We have developed unrivalled knowledge
and expertise in traceability, natural resource
management and community engagement,
and have demonstrated our effectiveness
and experience during more than a decade
of activities in the wood sector.
We rely on human enterprise
We look at human needs and motivations
first and how we can use them to work with
nature, not against it. We think encouraging
human entrepreneurship and creativity is
the key to protecting the environment.
Our objective is product
responsibility not profit
ENGAGE
WITH US

TFT offers a very different kind of

partnership to businesses. Becoming a
TFT Member means embarking on a
journey, making a strategic commitment to
constantly innovate and turn supply chain
responsibility into a source of value for both
business and society.
TFT gives its members the facts and on-the-
ground support to make this transformation
possible. The past decade has seen our
membership grow rapidly with now more
than 80 leading retailers and manufacturers
around the world having embarked with us
on their Responsible Product journeys.
TFT will also work in partnership with
businesses on a contract basis but only for a
limited time and scope.

If you are interested in more

information on becoming
a TFT Member or business
partner, please contact us
at info@tft-forests.org or
call +41 (0) 22 367 94 40
for details.