When João Saravia, director of Rio 2016’s 3.8 billion reais (US$1.15 billion) procurement budget, was looking for a supplier of hundreds of new office tables for the organisers of this year’s Olympic Games, he found himself faced with a tricky dilemma.

There were some big names on the tender shortlist, companies who ticked all the right boxes and made all the right noises. But the most competitive bid came from a small supplier in southern Brazil which had not even had its wood certified for responsible forest management – a big no-no for the organising committee, which prides itself on running the most sustainable Olympic Games ever.

Saravia’s solution? To sign a deal with the small supplier, Motiva Indústria de Móveis, and at the same time to enlist specialist help to take Motiva through the certification process of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Motiva had already been using timber only from responsibly managed forests. But like many small companies in Brazil it didn’t have the time or the resources to go through the certification process. Thanks to a partnership between Rio 2016 and Sebrae, the national support service for small and medium companies, Motiva only had to pay 20 per cent of the cost of certification, with Sebrae picking up the tab for the rest.

Two years later and Motiva has not only achieved FSC certification, it has won seven subsequent tenders from Rio 2016 for office furniture and has entered new export markets that insist on the FSC seal.

The Rio 2016 sustainable procurement process has helped Motiva access new markets overseas (Photo: Motiva)

It’s just one example of how the purchasing power of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, combined with the organising committee’s insistence on sustainability, has transformed practices in Brazilian industry and created new opportunities for thousands of small suppliers.

“The Olympic Games have helped to accelerate the spread of sustainable business processes in Brazil,” says Marina Grossi, President of the CEBDS, the Brazilian partner organisation of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

In partnership with the Rio 2016 organising committee and with input from some of Brazil’s largest companies, the CEBDS has prepared a handbook to help Brazilian companies of all sizes implement sustainable procurement practices. That will serve to raise standards in the Brazilian supply chain and increase the competitiveness of the country’s small and medium companies.  

“Because of the pressure of the Games and the size of its budget, Rio 2016 has been a catalyst for change,” Grossi says. “This is one of its greatest legacies – the Games will soon be over, but companies have learnt that they cannot separate purchasing from sustainability.”

The CEBDS has worked with Rio 2016 and large companies in Brazil to produce a handbook to sustainable procurement (Photo: CEBDS)

New markets

While the lion’s share of Rio 2016’s purchasing budget has gone to large companies, the value of procurement from small and medium suppliers is currently running at 50 per cent above the organising committee’s initial target.

“We set the bar for sustainability very high and we were worried that this could exclude smaller companies,” Saravia says. “But thanks to partnerships with institutions such as Sebrae and CEBDS we have been able to develop small suppliers and help them grow.”

Francisco Ferreira of Sebrae estimates that demand from Rio 2016 has helped small and medium enterprises create 16,000 direct jobs so far, the majority in the state of Rio de Janeiro itself. The Games have proved to be an invaluable source of business at a time of a deep economic downturn in Brazil.

The longer-term legacy may be even more positive. By helping small companies adapt to international standards such as FSC certification, the Games have helped suppliers find new buyers for their products outside Brazil.

Demand from Rio 2016 has helped spread sustainable practices far outside large companies, reaching whole new swathes of the Brazilian economy and helping small businesses raise their game and achieve new levels of social and environmental responsibility.

“The real legacy of our partnership with Rio 2016 is the new working processes and culture that we have helped create,” Grossi at the CEBDS says. “Sustainable procurement is here to stay.”