Fox Factory sustainability report sets biz on course to annual assessment

Monday, 6 June 2022 Mark Sutton

Listed suspension giant Fox Factory this week joins the ranks of those bike industry firms producing a sustainability report.

With businesses increasingly keen to prove their environmental credentials in the face of greater public scrutiny and consumer desire to see the impact of the products they buy, companies are increasingly keen not to be seen as greenwashing or evading the subject entirely.

For Fox Factory, whose record 46% YoY growth alone makes the subject of sustainability a sticky topic, we now have the first 111 page insight into what’s going on inside what is now a more than $1 billion a year business.

The highlight progress from the Fox Sustainability Report includes:

Fox Factory (read in full here)

A first materiality assessment leading to the creation of the Fox Factory Frontiers sustainability strategy. Goal setting will now commence this year once the inaugural report has been digested.
Implementation of internationally recognised environmental management systems in the largest facilities.
External party completed an emissions cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment screening for four high-volume products as a baseline for understanding sustainable innovation opportunities. Two of these products were cycling items – the Fox 36 Rhythm fork and RaceFace Next R Carbon crank.
Discovery that assembly stage emissions were a “significant contribution” of emissions, suggests move to more green electricity suppliers at source. Was not able to trace renewable sources at present in current report, but had non-renewable at 59,200,1331 MJ (= kWh: 16,444,481).
Completed its first, large-scale global employee survey, garnering an engagement score of 64 percent and qualitative feedback to drive continuous improvement within the organization.
Invested $500,000 in Trail Trust initiative, alongside global partners, to focus on responsible trail building to drive outdoor adventure.
Wage payments all ahead of local minimum – in some U.S. locations substantially ahead.
On emissions the report says “We are in the process of establishing foundational programming, including measuring company-wide GHG emissions (Scope 1-3), establishing GHG governance, identifying key risks, setting goals, and reporting annually. This includes gauging our energy and water consumption and efficiency, examining fuel use and alternative fuels, measuring our impact on air quality and pollution, evaluating our waste management practices, and developing strategies to transition to a low-carbon economy.”
Across El Cajon, Gainesville, and Jasper (US), and German facilities 255 tons of cardboard and 591 tons of scrap metal diverted from waste disposal. Municipal trash totalled 288 tons.
Water, seen in the figure below as a low priority in the grand scheme of sustainability subjects, is another metric tracked. The firm’s apparent total water consumption came in at 41,881 ML after 97,722 ML of third-party water discharge was returned after treatment.