Letter from Our CEO

"We will continue to raise the bar, challenging ourselves to work with utmost transparency and accountability"

I am proud to share Kontoor’s second annual Sustainability Report with you, covering our second year as a publicly traded company. 

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic became the dominant force in day-to-day life around the world, further exacerbating and amplifying long-standing inequities and taking the greatest toll on the most vulnerable among us. Time and again we were reminded of the vital importance of taking care of one another and the world we share.

At Kontoor, we pulled together – and with the support of our suppliers, partners, consumers and customers, we drew strength from our values and continued to move forward. In one of the most volatile and uncertain times we have ever known, we envisioned a better future and committed ourselves to making it a reality. 

In 2020, we defined what sustainability means at Kontoor: The dynamic process of continual improvement for the planet, for our product and for people. With the ongoing build-out of key measurement and tracking systems, we announced our first global sustainability goals.

While our targets for sustainability are new, we are committed to building on the progress to-date and recognize that we have much more to do. We are determined to make our products and operations more sustainable at every stage of the product lifecycle and view sustainability as a powerful enabler of our long-term strategy for growth and success. And we will continue to raise the bar, challenging ourselves to work with utmost transparency and accountability. In that spirit, I’m pleased to note that this year’s report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards.

In the following pages, we share extensive details on our operations, as well as updates on a number of programs and projects that we are especially proud of such as our water savings, responsible sourcing and workplace safety initiatives. Yet through it all, what I hope you see most clearly are the passion and dedication of our approximately 14,000 employees, working together as one team to make Kontoor a company worthy of our highest aspirations.

Thank you for your continued support. We will keep you apprised of our progress.

Scott Baxter

Chair of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer