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A high quality goose down sourced from the Sumy region in eastern Ukraine.
Our audit showed that the down was collected from Geese raised for food by small farmers and smallholders who typically have a flock of 20 or so geese. The birds were reared using free-range methods - the geese were able to roam the surrounding countryside by day, but return to the small farmyards each evening with plentiful access to water, fresh food and shelter. Down collection was typically done at the start of each winter by local dealers and batched together for cleaning and processing, initially in the Ukraine. It was then sold on to a down wholesaler in Taiwan who completed the final processing and sorting.
In 2014 we ceased working with the Taiwanese wholesaler and as such this supply chain is no longer in use. The last audit to be carried out was done so in 2011. The supply chain met the key rules of Down Codex in effect at this time time, including no live plucking, no force feeding, and the down being only a meat-industry by-product, and indeed it offered excellent animal welfare. However, from a traceability point of view the collection-based system was challenging and complex to audit fully and its overall size ultimately proved too small for our needs.
If you would like to see the original independent audit report for this supplier then please contact us. The IDFL quality report is still available to view.