Cascale Puts Higg Index Growth on Ice Amid Strategic Reevaluation

Cascale puts the brakes on the Higg Index. The entity, formerly known as SAC (Sustainable Apparel Coalition), has been forced to suspend the expansion of the Higg Fem index to focus on improving the traceability and data collection it analyzes today. The organization has explained that it is “temporarily suspending” the expansion of this tool, planned for next year.

Following the group’s annual meeting in Hong Kong, Cascale announced its decision to “temporarily suspend the expansion of the scope of the Higg Fem verification and adopt new and improved methods,“ according to the organization itself.

The Higg FEM is part of Cascale’s Higg Index toolkit, whereby the company offers a set of established parameters and metrics to companies that enable the measurement of the environmental impact of different business areas. Specifically, the Higg FEM measures the environmental impact of companies in their value chain.

Cascale outsources Higg FEM assessment to Kpmg

Cascale said the temporary suspension is in response to “a strategic shift that will allow us to establish a more reliable, adaptable and modular verification system to meet the growing demands of the industry.“

The entity also announced that it will rely on Kpmg to conduct an independent evaluation of the Higg Fem verification plan to examine its effectiveness, as a measure to avoid potential failures in its tool.

In 2024, the company turned its image around with a name change to begin a new phase, two years after facing a controversy in which it was forced to shut down one of its tools in the face of public complaints for allowing misleading marketing campaigns.

The problem began in July 2021, when the SAC put the use of the Higg Index seal on an international scale on hold after consumer authorities in Norway and the Netherlands denounced a “false and misleading and therefore illegal” use of the index in marketing campaigns.