CIPS Futures | The Procurement and Supply Chain Podcast

Corruption in procurement is changing. It is no longer simply a buyer taking a bribe from a supplier. Nor does it exist only in certain geographies or industries. As global supply networks become more complex, risks are becoming harder to spot, from hidden beneficial ownership and inflated intermediary fees to manipulated e-auctions, tailored specifications and AI-generated documentation designed to look legitimate.

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Starting life as a “stunt” to end exploitation in cocoa farming, Tony’s Chocolonely has rapidly become a distinctive brand on European and US chocolate supermarket shelves. Yet the reason the company exists hasn’t changed. “We’re an impact company that makes chocolate,” chief impact officer Pascal Baltussen tells us on part 2 of our CIPS Foundation special on child labour.

How does Tony’s address child labour in cocoa farming in practice? Pascal talks us through the company’s five sourcing principles – and why all of them must be done in a united impact model, consistently, to bring about real systemic change.

Plus: why do so many companies get lost in their journey to tackling human rights issues? Pascal's message: listen to the people affected and face the issues in your supply chain with honesty and clarity.

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How does procurement tackle child labour in supply chains? It's estimated that 1.56 million children are in forced labour in cocoa-growing regions of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, with significant implications for children’s health, education and wellbeing. In the first of a two-part series, CIPS Foundation lead Emma Scott speaks with ActionAid programme officer, Afram Kwame, about the work being done by the charity in West Africa to address the problem – work that is being supported by CIPS Foundation funding.

Afram provides an important perspective about the drivers behind the alarming rise in child labour in cocoa supply chains. And we hear how ActionAid is actively addressing the problem in line with Ghana’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights – from training community-based groups and cocoa farmers, to awareness and engagement campaigns targeting parents, leaders and schools.

Hear from Afram about how CIPS members are directly contributing towards tackling child labour via funding from the CIPS Foundation.

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In this episode, we talk to one of procurement's great thinkers, Dr Elouise Epstein, futurist, author and partner at Kearney. In a fascinating conversation with CIPS global CEO Ben Farrell and governance director Kate Tomlinson, she discusses: why AI will change everything but won't take your job; why we should watch how private equity deploys procurement; supply chains as national security assets; and the importance of telling great stories.

Plus, we reveal how CIPS and Elouise will be working together to take procurement professionals to a new level of AI expertise.

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The AI revolution, shifting geopolitical alliances, and a new generation in the workforce. Mike Soutar, author of Next Gen CEO and star from the BBC’s The Apprentice describes these as "the three storms". What does this mean for the next generation of leaders? Mike has 60 lessons, but here are just two: it's a leader's job to maintain momentum; and people don't follow pessimists.

Plus, why procurement and supply chain professionals are in a unique position to lead organisations in an uncertain, fast-moving world.

From creating space for constructive dissent to building culture in remote organisations, this revealing conversation with CIPS CEO Ben Farrell is a fascinating insight into the future of leadership.

This episode is sponsored by Vantify, the vantage point for connected compliance. You can find out more about them at Vantify.com 

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At a point where biodiversity loss is higher now than at any other time in human history, the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) New Zealand CEO Kayla Kingdon-Bebb has an urgent message for procurement: every sourcing decision you make is a chance to shift the needle.

The picture is stark. Wildlife populations are in sharp decline, while nature loss and climate change are amplifying each other. The consequences are playing out before our eyes. For procurement and supply chain professionals, this is an economic risk as much as it is an environmental one. Economies are heavily dependent on nature – its destruction creates new risk exposure.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, assures Kayla. Sustainable procurement practices are a critical part of the solution to protecting nature and improving business resilience. This is “procurement’s moment” concluded CIPS’ global head of sustainability, Maxfield Weiss.

Plus: why the whales should offer us hope...

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As CIPS launches The Great Conversation – a world-wide dialogue about the future of the profession – we talk to David Shillingford, a leading investor in supply chain innovation. His message to procurement and supply chain professionals: extreme complexity is here to stay.

Also on the agenda: why procurement professionals must learn cross-functional scenario planning; where your hidden vulnerabilities lie; why conflict zones are everywhere; and the most important company you've never heard of.

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A critical supplier goes into administration. There are only eight weeks of stock left, yet it will take nine months to switch to a new supplier. What would you do? In this episode, we hear how the NHS Supply Chain's head of supply chain resilience, Tom Brailsford, and his team responded to ensure hospitals and healthcare providers never ran out of the stock they needed after an essential hand hygiene supplier went bust.

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We're joined by Nick Nanos, chief supply chain officer and SVP of wholesale at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), an organisation on the frontline of navigating tariffs, labour disruption and complex global logistics. Hear how his team is spearheading change and innovation in practice to become the strategic lever the  crown agency now relies on to respond to challenges and consistently deliver value.

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Are we witnessing a "rupture" of the rules-based international order? How have tariffs and geopolitical events played out on the ground? And what does this all mean for procurement and supply chain professionals? CIPS global economist Dr John Glen and Fastmarkets commodities expert Ross Yeo make sense of all the noise.

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