More than 30 years ago, Avon instituted a supplier diversity initiative to
reinforce the company’s commitment to women and to support those who provide the
goods and services that make Avon products extraordinary.
We have made an effort in recent years to expand our relationships with
women- and minority-owned suppliers in North America. Avon North America’s
memberships in the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and
the National
Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
have helped to
facilitate this process. Avon sourced products and services from more than 284
small and diverse businesses in North America as of 2007, and in that year Avon
U.S. awarded $39 million in contracts to diverse suppliers, which was
approximately 5.6 percent of our total U.S. spend. Avon’s desire is to increase spend with
diverse suppliers year after year.
We embrace supplier
diversity as a business objective, not only to ensure that we recognize capable
diverse suppliers but also to continue to drive savings by selecting the most
competitive partners. In 2007 and 2008, Avon attended several national trade shows,
business fairs and events, including those sponsored by the NMSDC, WBENC and U.S.
Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce. In addition, members of our Supplier
Diversity Council continue to represent Avon locally at business expos
and outreach events in states as varied as California, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
As we continue to adopt a more centralized supply chain process, we will
strengthen our capability to accurately assess the services, commodities and
regions in which growth and opportunities may exist for more diverse suppliers. While Avon remains committed to supplier diversity, challenges driven by the current global economic environment have impacted supply chain processes around the world. Early in 2010, Avon management will revisit the supplier diversity position in the context of our overall supply chain and business goals, with the objective of addressing both business and corporate citizenship responsibilities.
Avon encourages potential suppliers to register their company profiles in our
supplier diversity database. Please visit the supplier registration website
for more information on the initiative and procedures.
The statistics provided in this section apply
only to Avon North America’s supply chain.