Cobalt & Retraced: Multi-Tier Mapping for Climate and Compliance
Cobalt is a leading design-to-delivery knitwear supplier headquartered in Hong Kong, serving global brands through innovative, quality-driven production. With a strong sustainability agenda, Cobalt is committed to responsible sourcing and reducing environmental impact across the value chain.
100%
of Tier 1 - Tier 3+ suppliers mapped in Retraced
Central
access to all compliance documentation
From Regulation to Resilience
How Cobalt uses Retraced to engage upstream suppliers and meet climate commitments.
As a key supplier and manufacturing partner in the global apparel industry, Cobalt must navigate evolving regulations, from anti slavery acts to EU-based due diligence laws. But for Ellen Arosio, Lead Consultant on Sustainability, traceability is more than a compliance tool.
“We’ve signed on to SBTi, and that means we need to keep on top of supplier and customer engagement and understand our carbon footprint. Retraced helps us map our supply chain and spot emissions hotspots."
Selecting a Scalable, Supplier-Friendly Platform
For Cobalt, success depended on user experience and scalability.
“The user interface is very important because we need our supply chain to feel confident using the platform. And since many of our customers already use Retraced, it minimizes duplication—which is really useful for us as a supplier.”
It wasn’t just about software features. “We also wanted our factories to have access to training and support. Retraced provides that, and it’s helped us get buy-in across all levels of the supply chain”.
Engaging Tier 3+ Suppliers with Real Support
Cobalt started with its direct suppliers, ensuring they were comfortable with Retraced before extending access to deeper tiers. “Once we had that foundation, we invited Tier 3+ suppliers to our training and Q&A sessions,” Ellen says. “There were struggles at first—less about using the platform and more about engaging in the process—but we tried to show how this benefits them too.”
Retraced now supports Cobalt’s end-to-end documentation collection, from purchase contracts to production records and customs documents. Ellen adds: “We ask for commercial invoices, bills of lading, packing lists, and much more. And now we can centralize and track it all in Retraced.”
Changing the Way Cobalt Collaborates
Retraced is now used across Cobalt’s departments, not just ESG. “We took external legal advice and worked with our merchandiser during onboarding to make sure everyone understood the requirements,” Ellen explains. “It was important to us that all relevant departments share responsibility for supplier assessments.”
It’s also changed how they collaborate. “We’re no longer reacting. We’re building structures that help us work smarter and build trust with our suppliers.”
The Impact so far
- Tier 1 to Tier 3+ suppliers mapped in Retraced
- Emissions hotspots identified via traceability data
- Centralized access to compliance documentation
- Multi-stakeholder onboarding sessions and training
- Cross-department ownership of due diligence
What’s Next: Carbon Intelligence with Supply Chain Depth
“Even if everything were to disappear tomorrow, we wouldn’t go back,” Ellen says. “We’ve already seen how traceability supports better decisions: for compliance, for emissions, and for supplier trust.”
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