Response from New Balance

Proposal C3: Report publicly on length of factory relationships.

New Balance notes that its relationship with “key” suppliers are long-term (10-20 years), but the company does not keep data on other suppliers and will not commit to publicly reporting the data it does have.

Full response

"Relationships with our key suppliers are long term, 10 to 20 years. We do not maintain data for secondary suppliers. Turn-over of suppliers in some non-core product categories would undermine the value of such statistics."

Response Key

The brand claims to implementing all components of this proposal or has agreed to implement them within Play Fair's proposed timeframe.

The brand is currently implementing or has agreed to implement some of the essential components of the proposal but has refused to implement, has overlooked, or has raised issues with one or more important components; or, the brand agrees to implement the proposal but not within Play Fair’s proposed timeframe.

The brand has refused to implement the essential components of the proposal.

The brand has misunderstood or failed to comment on the proposal; or the brand is considering the proposal, but has yet to make a decision.