Video Interview: Where Does My Stuff Come From?

With today’s complicated supply chains, not only are consumers in the fog about where stuff comes from, companies that distribute such products are often in the fog as well. When it comes to sustainability, product sourcing is one of the most influential levers for individuals and companies alike. Thus shedding light on supply chains is imperative for making good, sustainable product decisions.  In this interview, Sourcemap founder Leonardo Bonanni shares his quest to shed light on supply chains and to make them more sustainable.

Sourcemap is a crowd-sourced directory of product supply chains and environmental footprints. Companies can register their products online and tell the public where every component is sourced.  In addition to marketing value, understanding supply chains mitigates risk.  One example is climate change risk, which impacts raw food sourcing.  Over 80 percent of the world’s cocoa is currently produced in the Ivory Coast. But according to the Center for Tropical Agriculture’s weather models, climate change will drastically alter the Ivory’s Coast ability to produce cocoa in the future.  This information helps cocoa-buying companies take necessary steps, such as instigating sustainable farming practices and investing in new production regions.  Sourcemap aggregates climate prediction models from NASA, agricultural resource predictions from the UN and weather data to come up with supply chain scenarios for companies.  This helps companies improve today’s supply chain and prepare for the future.

Do you know where your stuff comes from?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL9e7knzFu4

Connie Kwan is the CEO of RealMealz.com in Silicon Valley, CA.  She holds an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School, and covers stories on food and health sustainability. Follow her on Twitter @RealMealz and @conniemkwan.