Responsible Supply Chains
In line with the Target Forward vision, we are committed to pursuing fair, responsible and equitable purchasing practices throughout our supply chain. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards and we expect our business partners to do the same.
Our mission
Target is partnering across our value chain to drive meaningful change through holistic assessment of social, environmental and business impacts of our products and packaging.
We take accountability for our own actions to generate social and environmental benefits and avoid causing adverse impacts within our manufacturing supply chain. It is our mission to verify everything we source for Target is produced ethically and in accordance with all applicable laws and our policies. Our initiatives are grounded in traceability to enable holistic engagement between people and planet.
Our responsible sourcing and sustainability teams work together to improve supply chain oversight and remediation, integrate responsible sourcing practices into our business operations and consistently seek out innovative solutions to advance performance beyond compliance. We regularly evaluate the way we do business with our suppliers and collaborate with them on practices and processes that are in alignment with ours.
Our Standards of Vendor Engagement (SOVE), our Responsible Sourcing and Sustainability governance program, oversight and performance elevation, and our commitment to Responsible Purchasing Practices serve as the foundation for this work.
Explore Responsible Supply Chains
Our philosophy
When it comes to sourcing products, we take a page from our company's founder, George Dayton, who was well known for his strong business ethics.
Today, we continue to strive to ensure our suppliers manufacture all of our products under the highest ethical standards, comply with all applicable laws and work with vendors and factories who share those commitments. We also work with regulators, manufacturers, industry organizations and other retailers around the world to continually set the bar higher for our industry. At all times we look for opportunities to improve our standards and processes.
Our expectations
We are committed to using our reach and influence to protect people and uphold environmental and social responsibility standards throughout our global supply chain.
We expect all our domestic and international business partners to respect human rights, and to comply with Target’s SOVE and all applicable laws pertaining to human rights, including, without limitation, all laws applicable to workplace health, safety, labor and employment.
All our vendor relationships are guided by the Business Partner Code of Conduct. This includes our SOVE, which outlines our expectations for vendors and serves as the anchor for embedding human rights throughout our supply chain, alongside our labor and human rights policies. These core documents define the scope of our vendors’ ethical operations obligations.
Additionally, "Applying Target’s SOVE" is a detailed guidebook on Target’s expectations for supply chain human rights, as well as environmental standards we expect from suppliers — has been made available to vendors in 10 different languages. Find the guidebook downloads on our SOVE page.