Supply Cha!nge: Make supermarkets fair

What was the project about?

Funded through the European Union, Supply Cha!nge campaigned to stop environmental and human rights abuses along global supply chains, with a specific focus on supermarket own-brand products. Project activities included research on the supply chains of particular products, public awareness-raising events and initiatives, and lobbying and advocacy work.

Key achievements 

• We engaged 2016 and 2017 UCL Active Citizens in campaigning. Watch the film the 2017 participants produced below to highlight the impact our consumer choices can have on others across the world, and read the blog about their project with us!
• We distributed over 13,000 copies of our Supply Cha!nge-themed 2017-18 global wallplanner to schools and educators across the UK, raising young people’s awareness of ethical and sustainable consumption, and supporting them to explore this theme through the accompanying education resource.
• We created a range of quality education resources around ethical and sustainable consumption, including resources on Purchasing Power and Global Learning, Supermarket waste and plastics, Water and the Oceans and Action Learning.
• We joined the UK’s Groceries Code Action Network to advocate for fairer supply chains, making the case for the extension of the role and remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator in a joint letter to the Guardian in September 2017. 
• We connected with local partners at SDG-themed events in Liverpool and Wimborne to share project outputs, as well as learn from regional global learning networks.

Further information

In June 2017, we held a webinar with Professor Christopher Tankou, an expert on the cocoa supply chain from University of Dschang, Cameroon. To learn about some of the social and environmental effects of the global demand for chocolate, watch the recording on Think Global’s Vimeo channel, and download the webinar slides.

Our global wallplanner for 2018-19 is themed around Ethical Trade and the Sustainable Development Goals, and continues the legacy of Supply Cha!nge. Order your free copy, and take a look at the accompanying education resource.