Made in China: Finding and Sourcing in a sustainable way

“Made in China” has had a horrible reputation for a long time - and still has today to some extent. Chinese products really started to make their way to Switzerland in the mid 90’s with a huge leap of imports after 2002. The majority of these products were low-skill & labour-intensive, which was a reflection of the general Chinese economy at the time (in stark contrast to its history as a manufacturer of luxury goods centuries earlier). 

Dall-E Prompt: Chinese style painting of cherry trees, factory in the background

However, a lot of the animosity can be attributed to confirmation bias and the fact that so many products nowadays are from China, but nobody cares about the country of origin of a good product and only checks the label if the product is faulty. The Chinese Industry has developed rapidly in the last 30 years and a lot of the low-skill manufacturing moved on to greener (read: cheaper) pastures. While this progress is very common for developing economies, there is a megatrend that is changing the anticipated trajectory: Sustainability.

Share, recycle, buy local - for a lot of consumer goods there is no way around the current Zeitgeist. But how can a company buying products in China and selling them in Switzerland adhere to these changes?

Let’s face it - changing your label to “Made in PRC” won’t cut it and fooling customers isn’t a viable strategy for long term success anyway. There are thousands of products, which are almost exclusively produced in China and there is no way to manufacture similar goods at a competitive price in or around Switzerland. So what are reasonable options? 

Check your Shipping methods

When transporting goods from China to Switzerland you have 3 options: Air, Train and Ship.

Generally, cargo ships are the most sustainable method with the lowest emissions per unit shipped. Direct Freight Trains from China to Europe really started operating in the last 10 years and operations were growing steadily before the recent turmoil. Train freight emits roughly 60% more greenhouse gases per unit than Ocean Shipping, but this is still massively lower than Air Freight. Breaking down the emissions for every ton per kilometre, an airplane is responsible for up to 47 times the emissions of a Cargo ship. 

Dall-E Prompt: Cargo ship, Freight train and Cargo airplane from the front, chinese watercolor, award-winning painting

Ocean Freight takes between 25 to 40 Days from China to Europe and a few more days from the ports in the Netherlands or Germany to Switzerland. Air Freight is usually around 5 to 15 days, not including courier services like FedEx, DHL or UPS which are faster but more expensive. Rail Freight is sitting between the two other options with somewhere between 15 to 20 Days on average.  

Now how can you work out the best option for you? In general, bulky and heavy items are best shipped by Ship or Rail Freight, especially if you have a good grasp of the future demand. Ocean Freight might take longer but it is by far the best option for your carbon footprint. Air Freight only makes sense for goods that need to be in Switzerland quickly and the shipping cost is negligible for the total cost of goods sold. 

Find sustainable alternatives

Most of the manufacturers and trading companies on the common sourcing websites like Alibaba, DHGate or GlobalSources focus on exporting goods and international customers. Due to this, their products cater specifically to western audiences and trends, and they are very aware of the sustainability megatrend. Reusable, biodegradable and recyclable alternatives are available for countless consumer goods, however a great number of these products are not up to the standards of their “non-sustainable” siblings. It pays off hugely to order samples from many suppliers (domestic shipping is very affordable so it makes sense to consolidate the orders in China and ship them altogether to Switzerland) and take a very close look, particularly their long-term viability and wear. 

Dall-E Prompt: Bamboo trees sprouting out of a brown thermos cup, surrealism

There has been a huge uptick in products made from bamboo, cellulose, wheat straw and other renewable resources, but customer satisfaction varies wildly with many of these goods. It is very important to communicate the disadvantages transparently, because there is a consumer group that explicitly only wants sustainable products, and they can stomach these deficiencies and have lower expectations regarding the wear and tear. In general, it is very similar to many products from China - you get what you pay for. 

The world is changing. Preferences change, customers change - and we want to change the way you source your goods in China. Send us a message to discuss how we can simplify your business and reduce your inefficiences when dealing with suppliers, shipping or sourcing