Deforestation Supply Chains

Much of the deforestation of tropical rainforests around the world is being caused by agricultural expansion, mainly to grow soy & palm oil and to clear land to graze cows for beef. Trase wants to increase transparency around the supply chains of agricultural products in order to reveal the environmental and social risks of these products. One way in which Trase is increasing transparency is through mapping the supply chains of South American agricultural commodities from production to consumption.

The Trase Explore the Supply Chain map is a simple interactive tool which allows you to view the supply chains of a number of agricultural commodities from South American countries to the rest of the world. Select a product, a country and a year and you can view a flow map showing the volume trade of that product to other countries around the world for the selected year. The top exporting companies of that product are also listed beside the map.


The Trase Supply Chain Interactive Map provides a more detailed overview of the trade and supply chains of some of these agricultural commodities. This map allows you to explore in finer detail where these products originate from and the deforestation risk attached to their production. An accompanying sankey diagram shows the supply chain of the selected commodity, revealing the volumes traded by individual exporting and importing companies and the countries where the commodity is most consumed.

Where M&S Gets its Fish

The M&S Supply Chain Map now shows where the company sources its fish & shellfish from. British retailer Marks and Spencer created the M&S Interactive Map in order to be more transparent with their customers. The map has been used in the past to show the factories around the world where M&S source their branded clothing, clothing accessories, footwear, food, non-alcoholic drinks and household products. It now also shows where the company sources its farmed and wild fish & shellfish.

Using the map you can view details on individual factories around the world which are part of the M&S supply chain. If you select an individual manufacturer on the map you can view a few details about the factory, such as the total number of employees and the percentage of female & male employees.

If you select 'Raw Materials' from the map sidebar you can now also view where M&S source their wild fish & shellfish and where they source farmed fish and shellfish. These fish & shellfish sources can be filtered on the map by individual country or by individual fish species. For example you can filter the map to just show where M&S sources rainbow trout.

Thank Sampson County this Thanksgiving

If you live in North Carolina there is a good chance that your Thanksgiving turkey comes from Sampson County. According to the USDA farm census Sampson County sold 16,394,921 turkeys in 2006.

If you want to know where your turkey, sweet potatoes, green berries and cranberries were raised or grown then you should browse Esri's Where Did Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? interactive map. To find out where America's Thanksgiving foods come from just select one of the foods from Esri's Thanksgiving plate. You can then view a map showing where that food is raised or grown across the United States.

This Thanksgiving America will consume around 250 million turkeys, millions of barrels of cranberries and hundreds of thousands of acres worth of green beans. Smithsonian created this interactive map so that you know who to thank for your Thanksgiving meal.

Supply Chain Mapping

As many consumers become more concerned about the environmental impact of the products they buy, and the conditions in which they were made, some companies are becoming more open about how and where their products are manufactured. As part of this trend some businesses have created supply chain maps to inform consumers about the origins of the raw materials and / or the global factories where products are made.

The Nike Manufacturing Map is an interactive map which shows the location of independent factories contracted to make Nike products. The map also allows you to access information about the product made by each factory and data about the employees.

If you select a factory on the map you can view details on the number of employees employed, the percentage of female employees and the number of migrant workers. If you want to learn more about Nike's compliance standards you can click through to read their Code of Conduct and Code of Leadership Standards.


In the UK the retailer Marks & Spencer has released the M&S Supplier Map. In order to be more transparent with their customers M&S has created this interactive map to show the factories around the world where M&S source their branded clothing, clothing accessories, footwear, food, non-alcoholic drinks and household products.

Using the map you can view details on individual factories around the world which are part of the M&S supply chain. If you select an individual manufacturer on the map you can view a few details about the factory, such as the total number of employees and the percentage of female & male employees.

Mapping the Supply Chain

There is a trend among the most ethical businesses to be more open about how and where goods are manufactured and about the environmental impact of the company's products. As part of this trend some businesses have created supply chain maps to inform consumers about the origins of the raw materials, products or ingredients that make up the company's products.

In the UK the retailer Marks & Spencer has released the M&S Supplier Map. In order to be more transparent with their customers M&S has created this interactive map to show the factories around the world where M&S source their branded clothing, clothing accessories, footwear, food, non-alcoholic drinks and household products.

Using the map you can view details on individual factories around the world which are part of the M&S supply chain. If you select an individual manufacturer on the map you can view a few details about the factory, such as the total number of employees and the percentage of female & male employees.


French yogurt producers Les 2 Vaches have also created a source map for their range of organic yogurts. This Google Map shows where all the ingredients used in Les 2 Vaches yogurts are produced or grown. The map also shows where the ingredients are stored and prepared.

If you select a marker on the map you can click on the '+' icon to read more about the farm or company which produces an ingredient or product used in Les 2 Vaches. The map sidebar displays the ingredients used in the yogurt. If you select an ingredient the map highlights the companies and farms involved in producing the selected ingredient and a supply chain is displayed on the map to show how the ingredient makes it to the final product.


Story Maps can be a great way for businesses to show how they source raw materials and to explain the manufacturing process which leads to the final product. Clothing manufacturers Loomstate has used Odyssey.js to create the Loomstate Difference, a narrative map which guides potential consumers through the manufacture of a Loomstate T-shirt, from the sourcing of materials to the finished product.

The map takes you on the complete production journey of a Loomstate t-shirt, from cotton farm to mill, from cotton to garment, from dying to printing, the map reveals the whole process of how a Loomstate t-shirt is created.