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A high-quality duck down sourced from Germany.

This down is sourced through a series of industrial-sized farms which collectively supply a single slaughterhouse. The birds are typically bred for up to 40 days for meat production, before being sent to slaughter.

Mountain Equipment staff, alongside an independent auditor, visited two of the supply chain’s farms in August 2017 with further follow-up audits being carried out by our auditors in February 2018 and September 2018. In addition to numerous farms, the slaughterhouse and pre-processor were also audited.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic it was not possible to revisit and reaudit our supply chains as normal (after 3 years had passed since the first audit). As a result we chose to continue to work only with those suppliers with whom we had an existing relationship and who had previously passed a DOWN CODEX audit which was valid at the time of the European outbreak of COVID-19 (March 2020). In addition, we took the decision to permit all DOWN CODEX audit certificates to be extended by a period of one year from their listed expiry date.

We sourced this down through a wholesaler we have worked with for almost ten years, and the down supply chain itself provided us with excellent quality down for over three years. While our Down Codex audit has now lapsed, the farms have been subject to the normal animal welfare audits carried out by local authorities; the location of the farms means that these inspections are strict and relatively regular.

We ceased sourcing down from this supply chain in 2022, though products in the marketplace may continue to be available for some time afterwards.