201118th December 2011
In July of 2011 we turn our attention to our second major supply-chain, our source of Eastern European Goose Down. Using the template that IDFL had established in China, representatives make contact with our supply chain partners in Taiwan. The first major surprise is that the farms and processors supplying the raw material to our wholesaler are located in Ukraine and not Hungary as we had been led to believe. Following an examination of the ‘paper-trail’, representatives from the IDFL visit the Sumy region of Ukraine, having the opportunity to document both ‘Mother Goose Farms’ (where young Goslings are raised) in addition to a network of smaller family farms where geese are matured. Identifying different types and sizes of farm was an important step in our knowledge of the wider down supply chain.