Join us for session three of Cascale’s Responsible Purchasing Practices (RPP) Learning Series designed to build practical understanding of how commercial decisions shape purchasing practices and decent work outcomes.
Join us for session three of Cascale’s Responsible Purchasing Practices (RPP) Learning Series designed to build practical understanding of how commercial decisions shape purchasing practices and decent work outcomes.
Join us for session two of Cascale’s Responsible Purchasing Practices (RPP) Learning Series designed to build practical understanding of how commercial decisions shape purchasing practices and decent work outcomes.
Join us for session two of Cascale’s Responsible Purchasing Practices (RPP) Learning Series designed to build practical understanding of how commercial decisions shape purchasing practices and decent work outcomes.
Join us for session one of Cascale’s Responsible Purchasing Practices (RPP) Learning Series designed to build practical understanding of how commercial decisions shape purchasing practices and decent work outcomes.
Join us for session one of Cascale’s Responsible Purchasing Practices (RPP) Learning Series designed to build practical understanding of how commercial decisions shape purchasing practices and decent work outcomes.
Buyer companies who express interest and provide their supplier contact lists by September 14 get the full benefits of the Cascale Better Buying Snapshot Survey.
A Cascale webinar recently explored the benefits of the Cascale Better Buying Snapshot Survey (formerly known as the BBPI).
Though the Snapshot opens to suppliers beginning October 1, interested buying companies must confirm their participation and provide supplier contacts by September 14.
Katie Hess, head of product at Better Buying, began by telling attendees the differences between Cascale Better Buying offerings and why Cascale Corporate members have an advantage this year.
Key Takeaways
Why Participate in Better Buying?
Purchasing practices are deeply connected to decent work outcomes. “There are three main ways that companies can engage in Better Buying, and I like to think of them as different ways to support the work,” said Hess.
Better Buying’s e-learning program offers a common language around responsible purchasing. Meanwhile, the upcoming Snapshot Survey offers a quick, confidential pulse from suppliers to help companies understand the health of their purchasing relationships and identify priority areas for improvement. The more extensive Cascale Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index (BBPPI) survey provides a deeper assessment of purchasing practices and will next run from April to May 2027.
And for the first time, Cascale Corporate Membership now includes both Better Buying e-learning and the Snapshot Survey. The BBPPI, on the other hand, is offered at a discount for Corporate members. Hess said the Snapshot is “designed to establish a baseline, check health, and identify priorities,” adding the two surveys are “complementary, not duplicative.”
Based on Better Buying’s “Five principles of Responsible Purchasing” – which are detailed in the e-learning course – buying companies who participate every year see the greatest return on their investment (and impact).
Leah Marsh, Cascale’s Better Buying research associate, reiterated the Snapshot is a “direct, confidential pulse from your suppliers on the health of your relationships.”
Buyers need to prepare their supplier lists now according to Cascale’s Marsh, who recommends they share a list of all current and active suppliers. At least five eligible supplier responses are required to generate results, so companies are encouraged to invite a broad group of suppliers to participate. She added that companies must take the first step now – so suppliers can be on-boarded and prepped accordingly for the October survey cycle.
Supplier feedback is confidential, helping protect the integrity of the survey and enabling suppliers to provide candid feedback. Companies should do their part and not ask whether or or how suppliers responded.
She encouraged teams to have the conversations now by looping in cross-functional teammates, informing suppliers, and scheduling time on the calendar for internal report review meetings. For suppliers they would like to be invited to participate, companies should include typical supplier information, including supplier company name, contact name, email address, and HQ country. There is no limit to supplier contacts for the Snapshot Survey.
Cascale’s Better Buying team delivers trusted support, insights, and custom reporting into the health of the overall partnership. By the end of November, participating companies will receive their custom reports including their overall results, one pre-selected breakout dimension, and results for each eligible supplier group with at least five supplier responses. Types of breakout dimensions include supplier type, product category, region, and brand or channel.
At depth, Cascale’s team offers insights on benchmarking, priority areas, as well as company-specific guidance to help teams translate supplier feedback into action.
Of course, Cascale offers many opportunities for deeper engagement on decent work. The RPP Learning Series will run on Oct. 21, Oct. 28, and Nov. 3. It unpacks how commercial decisions may either enable or undermine better purchasing practices and decent work outcomes. As well, Cascale also offers a Decent Work Community of Practice – led by Member Activation – for deeper engagement. The next session takes place on Nov. 3, with more information offered on Cascale Connect, a members-only platform.
For questions on getting started and additional resources, contact Katie Hess.
For questions about Cascale Corporate membership and its benefits, contact the Membership Team.
Join us on August 19 to kick off the Cascale Better Buying Snapshot survey.
Responsible purchasing practices are essential to climate progress. Learn why supplier resilience and fair purchasing are key to achieving long-term decarbonization.
Responsible purchasing practices (RPP) are not just a “nice to have” in the textile industry — they are where climate ambition succeeds or fails in practice.
When buyers cancel orders, push down prices, change timelines, or create volatility, the impacts ripple through supply chains in ways that undermine labor rights and environmental outcomes.
Recent U.S. tariff disruptions show what happens when commercial risk is pushed down the supply chain.
An investigation earlier this year found that paused orders and cancelled purchases following new U.S. import tariffs contributed to labor risks in garment factories, as suppliers operating on already low margins struggled to absorb sudden cost shocks. These are not isolated side effects of market disruption — they are predictable outcomes when commercial risk is pushed down the supply chain.
Volatility is not the issue. Risk transfer is.
Commercial strain weakens supplier resilience — and resilience is essential to climate action. Better Buying’s supplier-reported data consistently shows that when pressures build, suppliers have less room to absorb shocks, less ability to plan, and less capacity to invest in the operational improvements that climate progress requires.
But here’s the good news: where there’s an impact, there is potential to influence.
This is the part often missing from climate conversations: suppliers cannot decarbonize in unstable commercial environments. Commercial predictability changes the game. Because when factories are managing last-minute changes, reduced margins, delayed payments, or unpredictable order volumes, they are not operating from a position of resilience. That’s a position of reactivity. And resilience is what makes long-term investments in cleaner production, efficiency, and emissions reductions possible.
The problem is not disruption itself, but how buyers anticipate it. When buyers respond to uncertainty by changing terms, cutting prices, or cancelling orders at short notice, the burden of adaptation falls on suppliers and workers, and climate progress becomes harder to sustain.
RPP challenges the characteristic race to the bottom that has long shaped the apparel industry.
It links climate ambition to real economic decisions. Climate strategies are harder to deliver if purchasing teams are incentivized to prioritize short-term cost savings over long-term stability. Fair terms, predictable planning, realistic timelines, and consistent communication are not sustainability add-ons — they are the commercial conditions that make decarbonization possible.
Tariff uncertainty makes the case even clearer. As further trade disruption looks likely, buyers will either reinforce or undermine supplier resilience. Embedding RPP now is one of the most direct ways companies can protect workers, stabilize supply chains, and support long-term climate goals.
Responsible purchasing practices are a critical part of building more resilient supply chains — and supplier feedback is essential to understanding where change is needed.
Explore Cascale’s Better Buying to learn how supplier insights are helping companies strengthen purchasing practices and support more resilient supply chains.
Cascale’s acquisition of Better Buying tools and methodologies reflects our commitment to advancing responsible purchasing practices and promoting fair, accountable, and socially just supply chains.
As a globally recognized apparel manufacturer with over a century of industry leadership, Hirdaramani Group continues to play a defining role in advancing sustainable and responsible practices across the apparel value chain. A Cascale member since 2013, the Group operates vertically integrated facilities across Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Africa, partnering with leading global brands to deliver end-to-end apparel solutions and enable more transparent, future-ready supply chains.
Guided by its Future First Sustainability Roadmap, Hirdaramani integrates environmental stewardship, social impact, and responsible governance across its operations. Within this broader strategy, participation in Cascale’s Better Buying Purchasing Practices Index (BBPPI) serves as a strategic platform to strengthen buyer-supplier partnerships and support the evolution of responsible purchasing practices across the industry.
Manufacturers are expected to keep advancing climate and social priorities while managing the daily realities of sourcing and production. Purchasing practices play a direct role in shaping that environment. Planning changes, delayed payments, and pricing pressure can affect how suppliers manage resources, schedule production, and sustain longer-term efforts.
Better Buying brings those conditions into view through structured supplier feedback on buyer purchasing practices. For Hirdaramani Group, this creates a practical opportunity to contribute insight from the manufacturing side of the value chain. A consistent feedback process can bring alignment for day-to-day operations and open stronger conversations with buyers about how to improve together.
Aligning the Group’s sustainability progress with accountability, transparency, and stronger working relationships throughout the supply chain, Better Buying supports a more consistent and constructive dialogue between suppliers and buyers.
Hirdaramani approaches Better Buying not only as a reporting mechanism but also as a practical tool for engagement and industry advancement. Across its Future First Roadmap, the company has connected sustainability progress with clearer structures, stronger reporting standards, and greater transparency and accountability. Better Buying fits within that approach by offering the Hirdaramani team a confidential way to share supplier experience and help inform more effective purchasing practices over time.
As noted by Nikhil Hirdaramani, Director at the Hirdaramani Group, the tool offers a “secure and anonymous feedback channel” that has supported more constructive and action-oriented engagement with customers. Better Buying has also driven stronger, more transparent conversations that contribute to continuous improvements over time.
Better Buying complements Hirdaramani’s broader sustainability efforts by strengthening accountability and more closely linking operational performance to buyer relationships.
Collaboration is central to Hirdaramani Group’s approach to sustainability. Through its Future First Roadmap, the Group works closely with global brands, industry platforms, and stakeholders to advance progress across climate action, social impact, traceability, and innovation.
Participation in Better Buying strengthens this collaborative approach by:
In this way, the partnership becomes part of how progress is shaped and sustained across the value chain.
Hirdaramani’s experience shows how structured supplier feedback can strengthen partnerships and support more effective purchasing practices. By connecting operational insights with strategic buyer engagement, Better Buying helps bridge critical gaps in the apparel value chain.
As expectations on sustainability continue to grow, aligning purchasing practices with these ambitions will remain essential. For Hirdaramani Group, Better Buying strengthens this effort by connecting day-to-day operational realities with buyer relationships, helping ensure that progress across the value chain is both practical and sustained.
For more on Hirdaramani’s broader sustainability journey, listen to Nikhil Hirdaramani on Cascale’s Source of Good podcast episode, “From Tailors to Global Trailblazers: Talking Climate Action with Hirdaramani and ASICS.”
Participate in the BBPPI
First-time participants can access it here, while returning participants can simply log in.
