Heading into winter, our goal is to help people understand where their goose down comes from. Down is a byproduct of the meat industry. Without safeguards to assure animal welfare, it can be a little scary. A short film we released today is designed to put this issue at top of mind.
A little background… in 2002 Patagonia reintroduced down into the product line not examining where it was coming from and how it was produced. In 2010, we were called out for animal cruelty in its down supply chain. Instead of playing defense, we met public criticism with transparency – taking a deep look at our failings and discussing openly our mistakes and intentions for fixing them. We poured resources into making it right – developing the highest standard for animal welfare in the business – and now we’re encouraging other companies to join us in meeting this same high bar.
As a result of this tireless effort, all Patagonia down products now contain only 100% Traceable Down. All of the down in all of our products can be traced back to birds that were never force–fed, never live–plucked – and we don’t allow blended down, period. Patagonia 100% Traceable Down provides the highest assurance of animal welfare in the apparel industry.
We have a landing page to give a deeper look into our story at http://www.patagonia.com/traceabledown. The film was drawn and animated by artist Geoff McFetridge and is set to Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear the Reaper.
We hope you enjoy the short film. Please be in contact with Adam (adam.fetcher@patagonia.com) if you have any questions or would like to talk to one of the Patagonia crew who helped us turn the corner on down.