In this assignment, Patagonia’s international affairs will be analyzed in detail. Patagonia
is active in the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Chile and
Argentina. All in all, it owns more than 70 stores worldwide (Patagonia, 2021). It is a popular
brand all over the world, in fact, it has been the most searched sustainable fashion brand on
average between January 2020 and February 2023 worldwide. This shows its global significance
as people from all over the world know this brand (Semrush, 2023).
Since it is a private company, their international trade volumes are not publicly available.
However, they are facing restrictions of trade since they are part of the Supply Chain
Environmental Responsibility Program. This program is used for facilities all over the world. It
ensures that environmental management systems, chemicals, water use, water emissions, energy
use, greenhouse gasses, other air emissions and waste are all protected and processed
sustainably. Therefore, this company can not accept any kind of supply as they want to precisely
comply with their conditions of trade balance. Patagonia frequently reviews whether the facilities
meet these regulations and therefore evaluate whether the facility is qualified for being a
Patagonia supplier. A goal Patagonia is currently trying to achieve is, for instance,
decarbonization, specifically, where manufacturing is supposed to be reduced regarding carbon
footprint (Patagonia, 2022). This lets me predict that Patagonia will impose even more
restrictions as modern science always advances and therefore adjustments have to be made.
Decarbonization is just one aspect of a steady improvement of science research and more is
about to come.
But this sustainable philosophy is not only used when manufacturing, but also when
getting the raw material. Especially organic cotton, recycled polyester, or responsibly sourced