USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance Certified, Energy Star, Fairtrade Certified – these are just a few of the many certification labels consumers are seeing increasingly more of on products today. Reflecting both environmental and social pillars of sustainability, such product certifications help reveal the importance of sustainability to the brand or company.

Product certifications are granted to products that meet specified qualification criteria. Applicable to all industries, certifications require specific environmental and/or labor standards of operations throughout the supply chain. Certification logos, such as the FairTrade logo in the above image, indicate a product achieves selected aspects of sustainability throughout its supply chain.
There are countless certifications out there today and depending on the industry supply chain managers should be familiar with.
By engaging in and pledging sustainable supply chain practices that are visible to the consumer, companies can gain advantage over one another.
For example: in terms of demand – 89% of consumers would like to see more brands support worthy social and/or environmental issues, and in terms of preference – 1 in 3 consumers would be more likely to buy a product with the Fair Trade certification.

(Source: Fair Trade Certified Website)