It was on a bus in the Dominican Republic that a turning point emerged in a partnership between a non-governmental organisation and Levi Strauss, recalls Aron Cramer, the head of Business for Social Responsibility.

“In the course of the bus ride, one of the NGO leaders, a very dynamic woman, started telling some off-colour jokes and the whole dynamic of the group shifted,” he explains. “Suddenly there was a human connection that allowed philosophical differences to be addressed in a very effective way.”