Traceability

AAFA RECAP: Traceability Is Your License to Operate

27 August 2025

Apurva Bhargava

Head of Sales US
Listen to AAFA RECAP: Traceability Is Your License to Operate
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TrusTrace is a proud member and sponsor of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA). Apurva Bhargava, US Head of Sales, TrusTrace, shares his insights from the annual Traceability & Sustainability Conference with emphasis on the escalation of sustainability to the C-suite.     

“Sustainability is not a cost center. It’s a competitive advantage. It reduces risk, cuts costs, strengthens resilience, and builds trust.” That opening keynote message by Teddy Mendoza, VP of Global Responsibility, HanesBrands at echoed throughout this year’s AAFA Traceability & Sustainability Conference. Across industries and sessions, a unifying theme emerged: traceability is no longer a standalone initiative. It is operational infrastructure. It is risk reduction. It is a trade enabler.

future-ready brands are elevating sustainability to the C-suite


For brands navigating increasingly complex global supply chains, treating traceability as peripheral is no longer tenable. The moment it stops being seen as just a regulatory response, it starts working like a lever – for cost control, resilience, and real progress. And when it’s integrated across the business, elevated to the C-suite, it empowers teams to operate competitively in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Traceability is, quite simply, a requirement for business continuity and market leadership.

 

Traceability as a Core Component of Supply Chain Strategy

For many years, traceability was viewed as a communications asset – useful for storytelling, often housed within sustainability or marketing teams, and rarely integrated into core business systems. That era is ending. With regulations like Forced Labor Prevention, S.211, and the EU Deforestation Regulation gaining force, traceability has moved into the center of how global trade operates.

What was once voluntary is now foundational. Brands and suppliers face a clear mandate: to build supply chains that are not only efficient, but also traceable, and future-ready. When traceability is engineered as a system—data-rich, interoperable, and built for scale—it delivers more than compliance. It becomes a catalyst for operational clarity and long-term value.

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C-Suite Leadership in Traceability and Supply Chain Transformation

The most future-fit brands are integrating traceability into the domains of the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Procurement Officer—not just the sustainability lead. The logic is clear:

  • Operational resilience depends on knowing where your goods come from and under what conditions they’re made.
  • Financial performance improves when supply chain risks are reduced and data can be leveraged across departments.
  • Sourcing strategy is stronger when visibility extends beyond Tier 1 and aligns with long-term vendor development goals.

Sustainability cannot remain siloed as a passion project. The stakes are too high.

  • If you’re a CEO, traceability is your accountability.
  • If you’re a CFO, traceability is your risk dashboard.
  • If you’re a CPO, traceability is your sourcing blueprint.

Traceability at the leadership level is about embedding clarity, smartness and accountability into the operating model.

 

Reusability and The Data Advantage

In today’s digital supply chains, traceability data must be reusable, secure, and applicable across multiple workflows—from ESG reporting to customs documentation. At TrusTrace, we call this principle “capture once, use many times.” It’s a data strategy shift from fragmented compliance efforts to systems that generate value across teams, audits, and regulations.

When traceability is built on standardized and interoperable data, it unlocks what we call The Data Advantage —efficiency, consistency, and strategic foresight. Tools like the TrusTrace Compliance Canvas™ help brands navigate overlapping regulatory frameworks like forced labor bans, S.211, digital product passports and the EU Deforestation Regulation with an intricate map of all possible supply chain data points. Instead of starting from scratch for each new requirement, brands can build once and apply broadly.

The result: faster clearances, smoother supplier onboarding, and swift correspondence with regulators and investors.

 

Fashion’s Influence on Cross-Industry Supply Chain Standards

One clear takeaway from the AAFA event? Fashion is shaping the future of traceability.

While industries like food and agriculture are just beginning to explore interoperable supply chain traceability systems, apparel has already laid the groundwork from supplier engagement to regulatory alignment.

Not every brand is at the same stage, but the opportunity is shared. Some are scaling what’s in place; others are building from the ground up. What matters is moving from risk monitoring to real risk reduction, powered by data systems like TrusTrace that inform action.

Apparel and Footwear is well-positioned to lead. As global standards begin to align, the brands continually acting today won’t just keep pace – they’ll set it.

Dale and Apurv at AAFA Conference TrusTraceImage: Our brilliant TrusTrace colleagues Apurva Bhargava (Left) and Dale Barrow (Right) at the booth. The team returned to the annual AAFA Traceability and Sustainability Conference. TrusTrace is a proud member and sponsor of AAFA. See more from the event via Dale.

 

 

Embedding Traceability as a Business Standard

After this year’s AAFA traceability conference, the question is no longer if traceability should be prioritized. It is how it can be integrated into core business operations to deliver enduring value.

At TrusTrace, we’re proud to partner with brands that are not waiting for policy enforcement to define their path. They are learning from it and setting a higher standard for themselves. They are confident in the knowledge that transparency, integrity, and resilience are not constraints – rather they are market advantages. Because in the end, traceability isn’t just a cost, it’s your license to operate.


“Traceability used to be a convincing act. Now, it’s a baseline requirement.”

 Apurva Bhargava, US Business Lead, TrusTrace on the "Risk Identified — From Detection to Prevention" Panel during the AAFA Traceability & Sustainability Conference


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