Ecco: Open About Production Whereabouts

When a shoe company openly admits the whereabouts of their production facilities, even down the very city in which their production factories are located, it’s a good indication that this company not only shows you to trust them, but that they have taken measurable steps to improve working conditions.

As my ongoing research of learning more about outsourcing factory jobs in third world countries, the news of businesses taking measurable steps to improve working conditions is not an urban fashion myth. Ecco, a Denmark shoe company, has taken measure to ensure that the shoes they create for you are comfortable, environmentally friendly, and produced in the best conditions possible.

The reason I’m bringing this up is because I bought a pair of sandals from them today: the Clear Water sandals. Priced $140, and perhaps one of the most comfortable leather sandals that have ever adorned my feet, and because it was made in China, it prompted me to look them up online.

And what a treasure their website is. Honestly, THIS is how a company website should be like, full of vital information for the consumer and the whereabouts of where their shoes come from. It must take a company lots of dedication to erect such a long list of information of their mission, production facilities, the number of employees at each facility, even the date of birth of their board of directors.

Where my sandals come from: Xiamen, China

Xiamen is one of the most vibrant economic cities in China, attracting large numbers of foreign investors to their international trade fairs, earning over $11 billion US annually from these contracts. It also home to the muchly publicized Dell factories, and recently served as one of the Olympic torch stops for the Beijing Games. This island city has been named as a “Special Economic Zone” since the 1980s and has been growing ever since.

After reading up on Xiamen, China, it’s not one of those rundown cities that you read about in the newspapers all the time, it’s a seemingly respectable city that employs thousands of workers for hundreds of foreign companies. But this is just one shoe company who willingly disclosed its own factories and the number of employees it hired. What about the other clothing companies in Canada? Where are they really outsourcing their productions from? Few will let you know that’s for sure.

Here are the other factories that produce Ecco shoes:

ECCO Portugal in Feira
ECCO Slovakia in Martin
ECCO Indonesia in Surabaya
ECCO Thailand in Ayudhthaya

Despite such honesty, how will their product hold up over time? We will see, for now, I’m quite happy with my new pair of sandals
Image credits: ecco designs