Baska Willow Hamper

Customers must be able to rely on IKEA. They must be able to find good home furnishing products at IKEA at prices so low they can afford to enjoy a better everyday life at home. IKEA must offer attractive, durable, functional low price products. That's the IKEA vision: “To create a better everyday life for the many people”.

For more than 60 years IKEA has been perfecting ways of creating low prices – manufacturing as inexpensively as possible, building our own stores, flat-packing furniture for customers to put together themselves. But IKEA's responsibilities don't stop there. We also want the products we sell to be free from hazardous substances. And we don't want the wood in bookcases, tables or other products in the store to come from areas where forests are being devastated.

All IKEA suppliers, wherever they are in the world, must follow certain fundamental rules. Child labour is not tolerated, working conditions must be acceptable and suppliers must adopt a responsible attitude to the environment. The aim is to make products which have minimum impact on the environment. And to manufacture them in a socially responsible way.

IKEA is not yet at journey's end, even if huge efforts are being made to reach this goal. But we're getting there – by taking many small steps forward.