Trailblazing sustainability: How U.S. Polo Assn. leverages EiQ to build resilience

U.S. Polo Assn., the official sports brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), is partnering with EiQ on its journey to total supply chain confidence, leveraging its technology solutions for increased visibility, adverse media scanning, and supplier training. U.S. Polo Assn. is a globally licensed brand with a retail footprint spanning 190 countries and more than 60 websites around the world. The multi-billion-dollar sport brand implemented EiQ to support its global licensees in building robust responsible sourcing programmes and better understand their supply chain vulnerabilities.

Guided by leadership focused on transparency, innovation, and long-term brand integrity, U.S. Polo Assn. recognised the need for a unified platform that could strengthen oversight across its expansive global supply chain.

“For a global sports brand like U.S. Polo Assn., ensuring visibility and accountability across our supply chain is essential to protecting the brand integrity of our products and the people behind them,” said J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global. “Our decision to implement EiQ was driven by a commitment to greater transparency and continuous improvement—investing in tools that help our partners make better, more informed decisions for the future.” 

With a clear vision in place, U.S. Polo Assn. began working closely with its global licensees to translate strategy into action, ensuring that EiQ’s tools and insights could be effectively integrated into every stage of the sourcing process.

“Before implementing EiQ, our U.S. Polo Assn. licensees owned their own supply chains and responsible sourcing programs,” said Jessica Lenhart, Director of Sustainability at USPA Global, the company that manages the global, multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand. “Now with EiQ, U.S. Polo Assn. has much greater visibility into its global supply chain.” 

Adverse media scans for supplier visibility

EiQ supports U.S. Polo Assn. with ongoing supplier monitoring and proactive risk analysis for new supplier onboarding. With its machine learning solution, EiQ scans for supplier media incidents every two weeks, allowing U.S. Polo Assn. to monitor issues more regularly.

EiQ’s incident scanning tool is a scalable solution that combines AI and human intervention to monitor media outlets, including government sites, social media, NGOs, and local news in multiple languages, scanning for incidents related to adverse environmental and social issues connected to suppliers globally. This allows businesses to see incidents connected to potential new sourcing partners or use their current supplier data to monitor incidents on an ongoing basis.

“The EiQ platform makes it easy for us to oversee the global supply chain process and it gives our team the opportunity to address potential issues faster than ever before,” said Brian Kaminer, SVP of Brand and Product Development at USPA Global.

Targeted supplier and licensee training

U.S. Polo Assn. implements EiQ’s digital learning courses to reinforce alignment across the value chain and to train both licensee companies and their suppliers on standards and key sustainability topics.

“The eLearning programme with EiQ was instrumental in building U.S. Polo Assn.’s responsible sourcing programme. We wanted to make sure that proper training courses were provided to our licensees to support them in building the foundation of these newfound responsible sourcing programmes in a way that makes the most sense for their specific businesses,” Lenhart adds. 

EiQ hosts a comprehensive, multi-lingual course library with dozens of bespoke training sessions on critical topics, including identifying and preventing forced labor instances, working with migrant workers, and addressing environmental issues such as emissions management. EiQ’s courses are being used by thousands of brands, retailers, and their suppliers worldwide, where the platform’s management and reporting features enable users to monitor training programmes and educate prospective factories about critical sustainability topics.

“We’ve seen great improvements in our supply chain since implementing EiQ. Every quarter, we measure our ratings, and we see them go up. There is no doubt that EiQ is improving our supply chain, reducing risks,” said Lenhart. “Our licensees are endlessly thankful that we have the support of this technology to manage such a big supply chain.”

Paving the way for a sustainable future

EiQ is built on a leading dataset of more than 85 million data points and over 30,000 onsite audits per year, allowing brands such as U.S. Polo Assn. to gain a clearer view of their supply chain risks and empowering smarter risk management.

“As one of the top global apparel and sports licensors, and with such a strong industry reputation, U.S. Polo Assn. is constantly in the spotlight,” said Andy Gibbard, EiQ Chief Customer Officer. “Consumers will look to the brand to lead the way on sustainability. By taking an approach driven by data and technology, the U.S. Polo Assn. brand is doing exactly that.”

Through this partnership with EIQ, U.S. Polo Assn. is setting a standard for due diligence, best practice, responsible sourcing, and a better future.

“A small decision can have a large impact, and despite the challenges of a licensing model, U.S. Polo Assn. is making great strides every day in sustainability. We continuously seek ways the brand can have a positive impact on the product, people, and the planet,” added Prince.