Making a profit with the Baacode

Have you ever wondered where your clothes really come from? More and more companies are allowing customers to follow their products throughout the manufacturing process. The New Zealand Herald reports that Icebreaker, a New Zealand clothing manufacturer, is typical of a trend towards more sustainable purchasing.

The company's "Baacode" system (a play on the words "bar code" and "baa", the sound that a sheep makes) allows customers to track their wool clothing all the way back to the farm. How does it work? Well, the sheep aren't bar-coded — or baa-coded either, for that matter. But customers can find a tag with a nine-digit number in their clothing. By entering this code on the company's website, they can find information about the farm where the wool they are wearing originated — and even watch videos of the farmers.

Icebreaker trumpets its social responsibility, but sustainability can also be a way to make a profit. Chief executive Jeremy Moon says that sales increased by 50 per cent last year, and that 44,000 people have used the Baacode system so far.