Alphabroder (asi/34063) is looking to make its operations – and the world – a little greener.

The second-largest supplier by revenue in the North American promotional products industry, Trevose, PA-based alphabroder has launched “Green Team,” an initiative that includes 20 people from across departments who will work to create a “meaningful and measurable corporate sustainability platform.”

Andrea Lara Routzahn, alphabroder’s senior vice president of portfolio and supplier management, will be spearheading the Green Team. The initiative will help alphabroder improve sustainability in its business processes at a time when doing so is becoming more important than ever.

“Despite the significant impact of the pandemic to our global economy and way of life, sustainability has not taken a back seat,” said Routzahn. “To the contrary, sustainability has gained even more momentum. In many ways, the crisis has drawn attention to the ‘unsustainability’ of many of our pre-pandemic practices, especially around product and supply chain expectations.”

In the recent “21 Predictions for Promo in 2021” report, industry leaders forecast that sustainability would grow in importance this year.

What does 2021 have in store for the #promoproducts market? Some of the brightest minds in the industry weigh-in, with these 21 predictions for promo's 2021. https://t.co/iSoSCOG6is @ASI_MBell @asicentral @Tim_Andrews_ASI @geigergetsit @alphabroder @epromos

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) November 12, 2020

That’s no surprise to Routzahn, who said that making operations “greener” will be important not just from an ethical standpoint, but also a marketing and sales perspective as the buying power of younger consumers grows.

“It’s a generational thing,” said Routzahn. “Millennials and Gen-Z’ers consider sustainability a non-negotiable, mission-critical endeavor that will impact their future and their ability to have a safe and productive life. They will increasingly vote with their wallet and companies that do not address this will ultimately lose out.”

Helping Routzahn lead the Green Team will be Cheron Coleman, vice president of private brand global supply chain and product development for alphabroder, and Dena Rothstein, senior director of product management for Prime Line (asi/79530). Prime Line is a former Top 40 supplier that alphabroder acquired in 2017. It’s now alphabroder’s hard goods division.

“Sustainable business practices are as important to our customers today as product safety, fair labor practices and supply chain safety were 10 years ago,” said Coleman. “Our industry already invests resources to maintain and verify our safety and social compliance requirements. We also recognize the importance of committing resources to sustainability too.”

With reported 2019 North American promotional product revenue of $1.7 billion, alphabroder ranked second on Counselor’s most-recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry.

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