Q&A with Christiane Dolva Törnberg, Fjällräven

Fusion Associates talks to Christiane Dolva Törnberg, Head of Sustainability at Fjällräven, about supply chains, PFCs, pre-owned and how hopeful is she about the future, or does she think we are on an inevitable collision course with Nature?

Q&A with Grishma Jashapara, Managing Partner at Fusion Associates.

 

Christiane Dolva Törnberg

HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY

Tell us a little about your background, about Fjällräven and what your role is within the company.

I come from Norway originally, and moved to Sweden to study Sustainable Enterprising at Stockholm Resilience Center, met my husband and stayed here. I have been working in the field of sustainability and business development for the past 11 years, and found my home in the outdoor industry and with Fjällräven, where I can combine my passion for spending time in nature with my passion for developing businesses in a more sustainable direction.

Fjällräven is a Swedish outdoor brand that has been around since the 1960s. It is a brand that has sustainability integrated to its core, with a mission of inspiring the world to walk with nature. That mission and sustainability position makes my job as Global Sustainability Director for the company a true joy. It is such a passionate group of talented people to work with, and my role is to ensure we all have the competence, the tools and the know how to drive us in an ever more sustainable direction.

What are the main problems you see in the outdoor industry today?

The field of sustainability tends to be very focused on the problems, or perhaps challenges. But I also want to start by just underlining that there are so many opportunities within the outdoor industry at the moment as well. Consumer demand for sustainable products and services are on the rise and the way sustainability has become one of the driving forces in innovations, both on new materials, production processes and business models is something I find very encouraging! That being said, I believe that some of our main challenges lies in the fact that the majority of our climate impact stems from the production of our materials and products. Hence, we all need to start working in a completely different way with our supply chain partners to drive change, innovation, a transition to renewable energy and more efficient production processes.

I also strongly believe that we need to talk more about product lifespan. Durability and ensuring that the products we put on the market fulfills a functional need and are built to last is a key aspect if we want to move in a sustainable direction. A product that is used and loved for generations has a much lower impact in the end, than a product that either breaks or falls out of trend within a year.

What are you doing to make your supply chains more sustainable?

This is such an interesting topic to work on these days because it combines the need for transparency down a complex supply chain, with the need for solid data to understand where the pressure points lies, as well as the need to ensure that all parts in the conversation are on the same page. By that I mean that I think we will be most efficient in achieving the change we need by really having a close dialogue and collaboration in the supply chain, rather than only coming with requirements and demands. That being said, to answer the question specifically on how we work, we have an approach where we combine making our requirements and standards clear and ensuring that they are in line with best practice, as well as ensuring we work with a stable, fairly consolidated supply chain with long term partners. That way we can build up a lasting relationship that will lead to not only continuous improvement on social compliance but also on co-investments and projects together on environmental improvements.

For us we strive for the most impact by focusing on our tier 1 suppliers with social compliance and working conditions while at the same time working closely with our tier 2 suppliers (the material suppliers) on environmental performance. I am excited that we are now rolling out a program with projects within our supply chain to specifically focus on water, energy and chemicals.

What have been the most significant sustainability challenges you’ve faced and what did you learn from them?

One of the milestones we have achieved is phasing out the use of PFCs in the impregnation of all our fabrics. That is for sure something we are proud of and it did not come without a lot of work. It might seem like a small change, but sometimes those small details such as a particular chemical substance has big consequences and hence needs to be dealt with. What we learned from that was that there is no one solution fits all, and that a transparent dialogue within our supply chain is key to achieve results. That I guess was more an example of a milestone we have reached. Looking more at significant challenges I would say that there is still a significant challenge in looking at how to leverage new business models that are more circular than what we have today. There is a lot of good examples out there, and we have them ourselves as well with rentals etc, but they tend to stay in a pilot phase and are hard to scale in a fully, commercial way.

The learning or realization in that is that it is hard to change something significantly when every single process, ranging from IT systems to infrastructure and processes are fully optimized for a linear business model. But it is not impossible. Nothing is. It just takes a bit more time and effort.

One of Fjallraven’s commitments is to develop clothing and gear that lasts for generations, encouraging people to extend the life cycle of a product and, by implication, buy less. This is a great message from an environmental standpoint, however how does it reconcile with the commercial concerns of a business for profit and growth… how is it possible to encourage consumers to buy less and yet still grow a business?

This is a question I get from time to time when we talk about product durability and timelessness. And I believe that it stems from how we tend to look at growth, meaning as something that requires the same people to buy more and more. We believe that by creating that trust, consumer relationship and long-lasting connection that delivering high quality and durability does, we do not compromise our ability to grow. What I mean is, if you are very happy with a functional, long-lasting jacket, where would you look for a pair of trousers next, or a backpack? And what would you recommend your friends to get when they need a jacket?

I do not think that sustainable financial performance is dependent on someone consuming something and then throwing it away. So no, making sustainable financial profit and growth in a sustainable pace is not standing in the way of making timeless products.

Zalando has just launched a new “pre-owned” section, which allows customers to shop and trade in pre-owned items “with the look, feel and convenience of Zalando”. With circularity being on the frontline of the battle against waste, has Fjallraven considered a pre-owned offer and if so what success has it had and what challenges have you faced?

I think there are so many interesting versions of this being developed as we speak, and I applaud every single one of them! We are also looking into this but have not materialized a final solution yet. One of the considerations we have had when looking into what solutions would give the consumer’s most value is taking into consideration some of the platforms for peer-to-peer selling that already exists. Fjällräven is actually amongst the top 10 brand names searched for on the Swedish version of what would be the equivalent to eBay or similar platforms. So there is a lot of activity going on also without our involvement, so I guess we are working to find out what we could add to further accelerate the focus.

A major new United in Science report released earlier this month highlights the growing gap between the action that's needed to keep under temperature thresholds, and the reality of efforts to cut emissions. Greenhouse gas concentrations - which are already at their highest levels in three million years - have continued to rise. The report says it would essentially require a pandemic-sized carbon slowdown every year from now until the end of the decade to have a reasonable chance of staying below the 1.5C "guard rail". Does the knowledge of this bigger picture ever affect your motivation or make you reflect on how much of a difference are you really making?

It does, because it makes me want to do even more. Of course the big picture can sometimes feel daunting, and I am sometimes trying to figure out at what level would I be able to push us in the right direction, were I to choose to do something else. But also when you think of the big steps that are needed, everyone being part of society needs to take steps that are big in their sphere, and by that creating the bigger effects together. So if anything it makes me even more inspired to really make sure we contribute with our part. I also have to say that the industry initiatives that brings brands together to look at how to tackle these challenges together are inspiring, as it makes us able to take even bigger strides in collaboration. In the end, whenever you are faced with a massive challenge, you can only can only start tackling it by taking one bite at the time, take responsibility for your own part, inspire others to do theirs and obviously hope that the global community is able to react and act with the necessary sense of urgency.

How hopeful are you about the future or do you think we are on an inevitable collision course with Nature? What do you predict that the state of the planet and humankind will look like in 50 and 100 years?

That is a big question! I guess my view is that nature will be around, in some way or form that will adapt. It is humanity that is facing the biggest challenge of whether we will be able to have a climate on the planet that can sustain our civilization. That might sound very doom and gloom, but that is how I perceive it. And if we continue with business as usual, then yes, we are inevitably on collision course. I am still hopeful though, because there is still time for us to start thinking differently and to act.

The solutions are out there and there is a lot that is going in the right direction. I am only worried it is not going fast enough. So, a prediction in 50 to 100 years depends on what we are doing now. But in a best case scenario we will, by moving away from fossil based energy, by preserving the last wild places on the planet, by ensuring good living standards for all and by a radical change in how we consume product and food be able to reach a balance where we can sustain human kind and societies in balance with the planetary boundaries.


About Fusion Associates

Since 1998, Fusion Associates has been placing experienced professionals across the globe within consumer markets including consumer goods, fashion, sporting goods, healthy living and luxury.

Environmental, humanitarian, social and political concerns are close to the Partners both in and out of the business. We pride ourselves in partnering with industry leaders who wish to contribute to a better, more sustainable future. Working with global companies that are at the forefront of innovating and integrating sustainability into the heart of their business, we have helped build purpose-led teams from leadership to subject experts in biodiversity and animal welfare. 

 
Olle Palm