Ethical Statement

Bonchef emphasizes conducting business with total respect for people and the environment. Our factory fulfills Oeko-Tex STeP – Advancing Sustainable Textile production.

We follow a strict selection process for garment manufacturers to ensure only those fully dedicated to surpassing our high ethical standards become our suppliers. We always personally inspect and approve our suppliers before making any purchases.

We prioritize building strong relationships with carefully selected suppliers. Our local agents and staff in each external garment factory focus on ensuring compliance with our strict ethical standards for suppliers and testing fabric and finished garments at the source.

Supply Chain Code of Conduct Compliance

Our products are made in our factory and by various supplier organizations that employ thousands of individuals in multiple countries. We are committed to safeguarding the workers who produce our products and collaborate closely with our suppliers to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions, and no discrimination.

In manufacturing Bonchef products, all selected suppliers are required to comply with national and other relevant regulations and meet the specified criteria as a minimum standard:

  • Children should never be employed below the legal minimum age mandated by their country's law.
  • Hours worked must adhere to local regulations. Overtime should be voluntary and paid at a premium rate.
  • All female employees should have access to maternity leave.
  • Employment is freely chosen and no discrimination is practiced. There is no use of forced or involuntary labour and employees are free to leave their employment after reasonable notice.
  • Sustain good working conditions. Having enough washroom facilities and a canteen is necessary
  • Primary medical care must be provided on site.
  • Correct procedure and policies should be in place to ensure employee health and safety.
  • Workers’ representatives are not discriminated against and are allowed access to the workplace to carry out their representative functions.
  • Ensure that their own supply chain shares our ethics and is compliant to Bonchef’s code of conduct
  • We do not accept outsourcing or the use of homeworkers. Failure to adhere to this condition will result in breach of contract.
  • Agree to an independent audit as specified by Bonchef.

Factory Auditing

An ethical audit is a formal examination of the labour practices of a workplace or company. It is a verifiable process to understand, measure, report on and help improve an organisation’s social and environmental performance.

We demand that all of our garment manufacturers hold a valid audit from at least one of the following:

WRAP: Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production

BSCI: Business Social Compliance Initiative

SMETA: Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit

As a further safeguard our garment manufacturers must agree to permit regular unannounced visits from our senior management team.

Modern Slavery

Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.

Bonchef operates a supplier policy and maintains a preferred list of suppliers. We conduct due diligence on all suppliers before allowing them to become a preferred supplier. This due diligence includes an online search to ensure that the particular organisation has never been convicted of offences relating to modern slavery and on-site audits that include a review of working conditions. Our anti-slavery policy forms part of our working agreement with all suppliers and they are required to confirm that no part of their business operations contradicts this policy.

In addition to the above, as part of our contract with suppliers, we require that they confirm to us that:

  • They adhere to our ethical policy.
  • They hold at least one of the following factory audits; WRAP, SEDEX or BSCI.
  • The factory makes audit reports available to Bonchef.
  • They have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery within their business.
  • They hold their own suppliers to account over modern slavery.
  • They pay their employees any prevailing minimum wage applicable within their country of operations.
  • They will allow UK employees to audit the factories when requested.

We may terminate the contract at any time should any instance of modern slavery come to light.