Yes, But Who Cares?!

Last week, an industry veteran pulled me aside at a show and asked me point blank:

“Vinit, you spoke about ESG and storytelling at the DIamond Conference. This shirt you are wearing, what is its origin? These shoes, do you know whether they are sustainably manufactured? What about the working conditions of your phone manufacturer—have you actually ever inquired? We talk about sustainability in our industry so much, but it makes me wonder, who cares? Who is asking for it?” he asked.

“As a company, we have been doing so much for a few decades now, before it even became a thing. And it’s a considerable impact—the schools we run, for example, have a total enrollment of over 50K students. That’s just one of our many initiatives,” he added. “But who cares? No retailer has ever asked about it, woven a story on it, given us a price premium or purchase priority for it.”

The Consumer Assumption: Everything is Ethical

I think there is a fallacy in this thought process of waiting for the consumer to ask for it. The consumer naively believes that everything they buy is ethical. When presented a choice between sustainable and unsustainable at the same price points, most consumers will choose the sustainable product because it feels good. In a competitive world, it is enough to be able to stand out for the positive impact your products have. And if companies are doing so much already, not communicating it is a waste!

The Disconnect Between Upstream and Retail

I understand his frustration, though. In some sense, I think retail is lagging behind the upstream when it comes to ESG. The downstream hasn’t been able to truly leverage the impact already created in the industry. And that’s not it—instead of giving a voice to the amazing work, we have often inundated the upstream with different standards and definitions of sustainability that they need to fit into.

Truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all. We need to incentivize miners and manufacturers to go beyond checking boxes when it comes to ESG and embrace their own unique initiatives and the positive externalities that they have.

How Diatrace is Bridging the Gap

With Diatrace, we have tried to remedy some of these situations. By providing certificates for diamonds and jewelry for their holistic ESG footprints across the supply chain and linking these certs to the IGI certs that the consumer has come to understand, we are creating a meaningful channel for upstream companies to help the retailer directly communicate its value to the consumer.

We are also excited to launch a new "ESG Profiles" feature on Diatrace, which lets suppliers communicate stories of initiatives that are unique to their company. We acknowledge that ESG impact comes in different shapes and sizes, and this feature allows Diatrace certs to include audited stories of the supplier's initiatives across all the SDGs.

Reach out if you're interested in a demo!