The State Of Responsibility 2026 | Must Read Ben Grossman, co-president of Grossman Marketing Group, PPAI 100’s No. 34 distributor, says the firm had meaningful initiatives in place for years before pursuing an outside assessment. “The hardest part wasn’t changing what we did – it was organizing the evidence and letting someone else grade our homework,” Grossman says. “That process validated a lot of what we’d built, and it also showed us where we were weaker than we thought.” “What stood out to me was how big the gap still is between talking about sustainability and actually measuring it,” says Tej Shah, CEO of Overture Promotions, PPAI 100’s No. 8 distributor. “The industry has made progress putting policies in place and expanding sustainable product options, but in many cases, the measurement and accountability haven’t caught up.” Robyn Ahad, head of quality and compliance at Brand Addition, PPAI 100’s No. 14 distributor, says that the results look consistent with what the company might expect, such as larger distributors being further along on governance, dedicated resources and documented policies. “However, the level of preparedness for new regulations is mixed, which isn’t surprising given the pace and complexity of this area,” Ahad says. TABLE 3: Approximately what percentage of your product assortment is covered by a responsible sourcing standard, certification, or documented supplier code of conduct? 76–100% 51–75% 26–50% 11–25% 0–10% Don’t know/ prefer not to say Distributors $100M+ 60% 20% 0% 7% 0% 13% Distributors $25M-$100M 36% 18% 6% 6% 3% 30% Distributors $10M-$25M 27% 27% 9% 18% 0% 18% Distributors $3M-$10M 44% 28% 8% 4% 4% 12% Distributors Under $3M 29% 0% 6% 10% 10% 45% “That baseline matches the growing demand we see, but our clients have moved past just buying eco-friendly products,” says Dominique Volker, president at Whitestone, PPAI 100’s No. 24 distributor. “Enterprise clients want a full strategy now, with traceable supply chains and endof-life management built in.” Grossman describes the industry as moving from documented good intentions toward measurement and accountability. “That’s encouraging, but the data makes clear how much work remains,” Grossman says. TABLE 4: Roughly what percentage of products sold in 2025 had verifiable environmental or social attributes? % of verifiably responsible products sold Distributors $100M+ 32% Distributors $25M-$100M 43% Distributors $10M-$25M 31% Distributors $3M-$10M 44% Distributors Under $3M 47% “Enterprise clients want a full strategy now, with traceable supply chains and end-of-life management built in.” — BEN GROSSMAN, GROSSMAN MARKETING GROUP • OCTOBER 2026 • 35
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