Cascale Annual Meeting To Challenge Consumer Goods Industry on Climate, Decent Work
AMSTERDAM, HONG KONG, and OAKLAND, Calif., August 19, 2025 /3BL/ - Consumer goods industry stakeholders are headed to Hong Kong this September for the Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting. The flagship event promises high-impact learning, honest dialogue, and solutions-oriented collaboration designed to accelerate progress, catalyze impact at scale, and build a more sustainable and equitable future.
Building on the momentum of the 2024 Annual Meeting in Munich, the Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting in Hong Kong will focus on the critical challenges and transformative opportunities facing the consumer goods industry, particularly in Cascale's focus categories of apparel, footwear, and textile; home furnishings; sporting and outdoor goods; and bags and luggage. Over 800 attendees – including manufacturer, brand, retailer, and affiliate members – are expected to attend the event at the Kerry Hotel on September 15-17, which will also offer a dynamic digital experience featuring live-streamed content and a robust virtual workshop series for members and non-members joining from EMEA and AMER time zones.
“At Cascale, we believe that real progress happens when we come together — not just to talk, but to take action. The 2025 Annual Meeting in Hong Kong will challenge our industry to move beyond ambition and into alignment — on climate, on equity, and on the business practices that define our shared future,” said Harsh Saini, interim CEO of Cascale, who will open the event on September 16 (live-streamed). “This is not just a convening of stakeholders, it’s a call to co-create solutions, scale innovation, and ensure that the consumer goods industry gives back more than it takes from people and planet.”
With program development guided by an Advisory Council that includes Dhanujie Jayapala, MAS Holdings; Priyanka Khanna, Fashion for Good; Dr. Delman Lee, TAL Apparel; Dr. Katy Stevens, European Outdoor Group; Quentin Thorel, CIEL Textile; Shasta O’Loughlin, KMD Brands Limited; and Matthew Thurston, REI, the event will feature two days of high-impact dialogue, collaboration, and opportunities to take action.
“Climate change, shifting consumer expectations, and economic volatility are rewriting the rules of global trade. We must work across industries, geographies, and even competitive lines to bridge vision and impact,” said Joseph Phi, Group CEO of Li & Fung, who will present the opening keynote on September 16 (live-streamed). “The Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting is a catalyst for transforming pledges into partnerships — and partnerships into measurable change — so that together we can redesign supply chains, scale breakthrough solutions, and ensure that trade works for people, planet, and shared prosperity.”
“Hong Kong is proud to host the Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting, and connect innovation to impact,” said Hon. Sunny Tan, HKSAR Legislative Council Member (Textiles and Garment) and the Chairman of Hong Kong Fashion Council, who will present the closing keynote on September 16 (live-streamed). “As a leading hub for sustainable manufacturing and responsible business, Hong Kong stands ready to support the bold ideas, partnerships, and practical solutions that will shape a more resilient and equitable future for the consumer goods industry.”
“When we founded Cascale and the Higg Index tools, the vision was simple but urgent: to align the power of industry with the responsibility to people and planet,” said Rick Ridgeway, author, adventurer, and Cascale co-founder, who will participate in a fireside chat on September 16 (live-streamed). “That vision has grown into a global movement — and the 2025 Annual Meeting in Hong Kong is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we put competition aside and come together to solve the most pressing challenges of our time.
“REI’s mission is to connect every person to the power of the outdoors and engage them in the fight to protect it,” Matthew Thurston, Divisional VP Sustainability, REI Co-op, who will speak about supply chain decarbonization on September 16 (not live-streamed). “We’re proud to work alongside industry partners and participating in the Cascale Annual Meeting in Hong Kong gives us the opportunity to collaborate with global peers, align on impactful solutions, and drive the systemic change our planet urgently needs.”
“Collaboration is no longer optional — it’s the only way forward,” said Roger Lee, CEO of TAL Apparel, who will join a plenary on the connection between responsible purchasing practices and decarbonization on September 16 (live-streamed). “At the Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting, we have an opportunity to break silos and align on action. Together, we can drive the systemic change needed to deliver on climate goals, support decent work, and build a future-ready industry.”
“As brands, we have a responsibility to ensure that our sustainability ambitions are matched by the way we do business,” said Anne-Laure Descours, Sustainability Advisor, PUMA, who will join the livestreamed plenary on responsible purchasing practices and decarbonization on September 16. “Decarbonization will only succeed if purchasing decisions actively enable it — creating the right incentives, timelines, and partnerships across the value chain. The Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting gives us the space to challenge our own practices, learn from peers, and work with suppliers to turn shared climate goals into measurable, scalable action.”
“Currently, decarbonization efforts are heavily driven by suppliers," said Dinesh Virwani, Executive Vice Chairman and Co-Founder of EPIC Group, who will also join the live-streamed plenary on responsible purchasing practices and decarbonization on September 16. "At the Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting, we have a unique opportunity to come together as brands, manufacturers, and stakeholders to challenge ourselves and ask how we can evolve our relationships and purchasing practices to unlock the full decarbonization potential of the value chain, while improving the lives of our workers."
“This year’s Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting comes at a pivotal moment for our industry," said Suren Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of MAS Holdings, who will present the opening keynote on September 17 (live-streamed). "The gap between our sustainability ambition and the tangible outcome is widening and bridging this divide requires not just intent, but embedded, systematic change. We must weave sustainability into the very fabric of our core business strategy, move boldly from pilots to transformative, scalable solutions and foster a culture of collaboration built on trust and shared responsibility. In times of volatility and uncertainty, this is no easy path. Yet our shared calling to be changemakers that enable dreams and inspire the world, compels us forward. It reminds us that sustainability is a powerful opportunity to build a world where thriving businesses and thriving communities are one and the same."
“This year's Cascale annual meeting theme, ‘A Movement for All,’ perfectly captures the spirit we need now, uniting brands, manufacturers, and all other stakeholders of Cascale behind a single, practical vision for a 1.5 °C apparel industry, said Dr. Thiwanka De Fonseka, Chief Sustainability Officer, Komar, who will present on climate risk and building supply chain resilience on September 17 (live-streamed). “When every stakeholder’s voice is heard and every factory floor is part of the solution, innovation scales faster, financing flows wider, and climate action becomes truly inclusive. Cascale’s 2025 forum gives us the platform to turn shared intent into shared impact.
In addition to onsite programming, attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in field trips, including:
- Crossroads Foundation “Struggle for Survival” Simulation – Monday September 15
- Crossroads Foundation Site Visit – Friday September 19
- Nilörn Sustainable Labeling in Action Factory Tour – Friday September 19
- Visit to World Wildlife Fund’s Mai Po Nature Reserve - Friday September 19
The Cascale 2025 Annual Meeting is sponsored by Li & Fung & LFX, retraced, Epic Group, Tal Group, VF Corporation, Nike, Invest HK, among others. Official carrier Cathay Pacific offers registered attendees an exclusive opportunity to enjoy savings on flights to Hong Kong. Please click here for more information and sponsorship opportunities.
Worldly, the leading platform for sustainability data and analytics in consumer goods supply chains and the exclusive licensee of Cascale’s Higg Index tools, will host their Customer Forum in Hong Kong on September 18th.
Editors: For more information about media access to Cascale speakers, as well as press passes, please contact cascaleforster@forster.co.uk. Live-streamed content will be recorded and released one hour after the session concludes and available for 30 days afterwards through the app or online. All content is presented in English.
