Making Progress Together with OVS

As an partner of OVS for 8 years, we have collaborated on the evolution of the company’s business model across various areas: carbon footprint, low-impact materials, training, energy efficiency in stores, social inclusion, and circularity. Once internal measures were implemented, it became clear that we needed to directly engage the supply chain to achieve Scope 3 emissions reduction targets and improve working conditions for people throughout the supply chain.

The “Making Progress Together” project was created precisely for this purpose: to support OVS in ensuring that, by 2026, 80% of its production volume is sourced from partners with an active decarbonization plan and that the same percentage includes a democratically elected workers’ representative body.

Together with OVS, we immersed ourselves directly in the production contexts of China, Bangladesh, and India through on-site workshops and ongoing remote support. The goal was to foster direct engagement with strategic partners, establish close collaboration, and gain a firsthand understanding of local challenges. This one-year initiative was structured in three phases:
• Analysis: The data provided on the Worldly platform and discussions with OVS’s local teams served as the foundation for understanding current practices and identifying needs.
• Engagement and Training: In-person workshops in Shanghai, Dhaka, and Delhi engaged suppliers in days of interactive training, featuring the sharing of best practices and collective learning exercises such as Climate Fresk.
• Implementation support: We provided customized tools to define climate transition plans and map out the decarbonization trajectory through 2035, in addition to supporting the establishment of worker representative committees. In coordination with OVS’s local teams, we are supporting our partners through one-on-one meetings to align their respective plans with the brand’s SBTi targets.

This journey demonstrates that, while starting from a solid foundation of verified data, impact within the supply chain is only achieved when a brand chooses to take action locally, build shared expertise, create spaces for dialogue, and provide concrete support. We have observed that progress does not move at the same pace on all fronts: the drivers of change vary significantly from country to country, and environmental practices are easier to address than social ones. Issues such as the living wage, for example, have revealed their full complexity: these are central issues that cannot be reduced to a mere numerical indicator, as they touch on the very foundations of the market, governance, and rights, calling for shared responsibility between brands and suppliers. On the climate front, however, the complex challenge of reconciling high rates of business growth with the demand for an absolute reduction in emissions has emerged.

• 92 suppliers involved, accounting for 67% of OVS’s production volume
• 150 people trained on the causes and effects of climate change through the Climate Fresk workshop
• 3 days of on-site discussions in Shanghai, Dhaka, and Delhi

The working groups revealed a high level of maturity on these issues, a strong interest in collaboration, and a clear message: visibility into long-term orders is an essential prerequisite for taking action. The ability to invest in new technologies, renewable energy, and people’s well-being is directly proportional to the stability of the business relationship and the clarity of planning. Without a long-term outlook, even the best intentions risk remaining fragile.

This collaboration between OVS and NATIVA is demonstrating that supply chain transformation is possible only when we shift from a mindset of mere “compliance requirements” to one of co-designing the future, where the brand’s success is inextricably linked to the resilience and preparedness of its partners.