Jason Zapp’s employer, Clarence-based manufacturer Alexandria Professional, was looking for an ethical certification for one of its products and couldn’t find it.
For Zapp, the company’s chief operating officer, it was a problem that required a solution.
The idea for Human Rights in Your Supply Chain was born. Zapp is founder and CEO of the Buffalo-based startup, which certifies that no forced labor has been used in a company’s product.
For now it resembles a consultancy – Zapp and a network of vendors parse through every step of a client’s supply chain, then issue a report with findings that need to be fixed before the certification is granted.
Sometimes that means his clients demand changes in the factories that make their products. Sometimes it means taking their business to someone who can guarantee they don’t use forced labor.
“In the developed world, we source goods from other parts of the world because it’s cheaper, but when it’s cheaper it exploits the people who are doing the work,” he said. “We work with factory owners to make sure all the metrics, based on international labor standards, are being met.”
Below the hood, though, he says HRSC is a scalable startup with a major potential market. The company provides a QR code that can be added to certified products and gives consumers access into how those products are made, even including videos of the production processes and factories. He said technology will be built around the company's mission-oriented ideals, helping automate its processes and communicate with end-users of the products.
“Our goal is to grow this into a $30 million business in five years, and we already have some traction,” Zapp said.
HRSC is initially targeting the apparel industry, but Zapp said he’s “not turning away business” and has accepted clients in packaged manufacturing. Since launching last year, HRSC has about 13 paying customers.
Those early adopters have allowed the company to hone its business model as it prepares to seek growth-oriented funding and begin marketing itself more broadly. But Zapp said the crucial feedback has been that HRSC creates a dovetail between profits and moral business standards.
“Our customers are noticing a significant increase in sales of products they are marketing as being ethically sourced, with our certification,” he said. “What’s next is raising funds to scale this to the next level, hiring staff and growing this company.”
