Toms Manufacturing

Now that I have established a bit about Toms and its principals, I want to explore more of Toms manufacturing processes and the origins of the materials used to create Toms shoes.

A reminder of what I have found so far via the Toms founder Blake Mycoskie interview I posted last week: "There is nothing better you can do to build your relationships with your factories then showing them that this is not just a business, this is really a cause and something that is really important to a lot of people. Often times the workers know people who don't have shoes as well, and that makes them really excited."

This is what the Toms Website had to say about how their shoes are created:

Thank you for your interest in TOMS’ production and manufacturing processes.

AT TOMS, our goal is to be as fair and ethical as possible in our practices, and to run a sustainable business that allows us to keep giving shoes to children in need. We are the first to tell you that this is a learning process that we are striving to improve all the time.

We want our customers to know as much as we do. As part of this effort of increasing transparency, we’ve provided some pictures of our factories in China, Argentina and Ethiopia. Regular visits by our production staff and third party audits ensure not only the product is up to standards, but that our factories provide a clean, safe place to work, fair wages and treatment, and never employ underage labor. 

Below are some selected answers to common questions from our FAQ page. Thank you for visiting and look for more information here in the future. 

Where are TOMS manufactured?
TOMS currently manufactures in Argentina, China and Ethiopia.

How does TOMS ensure its manufacturers adhere to human rights standards?
We require the factories operate under sound labor conditions, pay fair wages and follow the International Labor Standards set by the International Labor Organization. A code of conduct is signed by all factories. Our production staff regularly visits these factories to make sure they are maintaining these working standards. We also have third parties audit the factories at least once a year to ensure they adhere to proper labor regulations.
http://www.intertek-labtest.com/services/auditing/intertek_compliance/?lang=en

Are TOMS Fair Trade?
We employ fair trade practices, although there are currently no official fair trade standards for footwear manufacturing.

The link provided for the company that audits the Tom's factories does not actually lead to a report on the conditions that workers are subject to, so I would like to find more information on that and the actual manufacturing process. 

My next step will be to look for the origins of some of the materials Toms shoes are made out of, even if this means just looking generally at the extraction of the materials around the world, separate from where Toms actually gets its own materials.