Must Read | The State Of Responsibility 2026 Distributor Benchmarking Jake Himelstein, president at BAMKO, PPAI 100’s No. 10 distributor, says the survey results track exactly with what his company is seeing. “Five years ago, compliance questions showed up at the end of a deal, if at all. Today, they show up prominently in the RFP,” Himelstein says. “Enterprise clients are asking for PFAS documentation, supply chain traceability and substantiation for every environmental claim before they’ll put a product in their program. “This is one of the clearest places where responsibility stops being a cost center and becomes a competitive advantage. When you can walk into a Fortune 500 client and answer the regulatory question before they ask it, that wins business. The industry’s opportunity is to treat these regulations as a chance to be indispensable to clients rather than as paperwork to survive.” TABLE 1: How is sustainability, product responsibility, and compliance managed within your organization? Combination of internal and external resources External expert or third-party support Dedicated internal role or team Part of an existing role Not formally assigned Distributors $100M+ 53% 0% 27% 20% 0% Distributors $25M-$100M 39% 3% 36% 12% 9% Distributors $10M-$25M 41% 0% 23% 18% 18% Distributors $3M-$10M 36% 8% 24% 16% 16% Distributors Under $3M 19% 3% 10% 19% 48% TABLE 2: Which best describes your company’s governance and accountability practices related to responsible business conduct? Third-party verification and continuous improvement Supplier expectations communicated and monitored with clear follow-up action plans Documented internal policies Informal expectations, not documented No formal policies Distributors $100M+ 53% 0% 47% 0% 0% Distributors $25M-$100M 36% 6% 55% 3% 0% Distributors $10M-$25M 36% 9% 50% 5% 0% Distributors $3M-$10M 32% 12% 32% 16% 8% Distributors Under $3M 10% 13% 16% 35% 26% 34 • OCTOBER 2026 •
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