Recent media reports contained serious allegations that a facility located in Northwestern China operated by one of Badger’s third-party suppliers was acting in a manner inconsistent with our Global Sourcing Policy.
Upon hearing these press reports, we immediately suspended ordering, receiving or shipping any product from the supplier, Hetian Taida Apparel Co., Ltd., and launched a multi-faceted investigation. This process included internal reviews and an investigation conducted by outside legal counsel working with a global forensic accounting firm.
Our investigation is now complete. With respect to the current Hetian Taida facility in the Aidelaisi Industry Zone, we found those operations to be consistent with our Global Sourcing Policy and the certification by Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), an independent, non-profit team of global social compliance experts dedicated to promoting safe, lawful, humane, and ethical manufacturing around the world. However, historical documentation provided by Hetian Taida regarding their prior facility was insufficient to conclude with certainty that it had met Badger’s Global Sourcing Policy.
Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and to eliminate any concerns about our supply chain given the controversy around doing business in Northwestern China, we will no longer source any product from Hetian Taida or this region of China. Furthermore, we will not ship any product sourced from Hetian Taida currently in our possession. Given this supplier only accounted for approximately one percent of our total annual sales, we do not expect any interruption in our service levels.
We take extremely seriously any allegations of a supplier not complying with our Global Sourcing Policy. We strive to adhere to the highest manufacturing standards, as we have done for the past 47 years without issue. We are committed to upholding our mission of "Quality for All", which has helped Badger become the trusted supplier to team dealers, decorators and apparel wholesalers throughout the U.S.