How Cheri scores brands

Core pillars

Each brand is evaluated across five main areas:

• Labor & human rights – working conditions, worker protections, and fair pay.
• Environmental responsibility – emissions, resource use, and long-term commitments.
• Products & materials – fabrics, ingredients, durability, and end-of-life impact.
• Business transparency – how openly a brand reports on factories, audits, and impact.
• Recognized certifications – independent validations like Fair Trade, B Corp, or organic labels.

Data sources

Cheri’s ratings combine publicly available information, third-party databases, and brand disclosures. We prioritize independent, verifiable sources and favor primary documentation over marketing claims.

As the product evolves, we plan to incorporate more external benchmarks and collaborations with impact-focused organizations.

Scoring scale

Scores are presented as a simple letter grade or numeric range (for example, A–F or 0–100) so you can compare brands at a glance. Internally, each pillar contributes to the overall score using weights that reflect the area’s relative importance to people and the planet.

Our goal is not to declare any brand “perfect,” but to help you identify better and worse options within a category so you can make the best choice for you.

Independence from revenue

Brand scores are completely independent from affiliate relationships, sponsorships, or advertising. Retailers cannot pay to improve their rating. If we work with a brand commercially, their score is still determined by the same criteria as everyone else.

Affiliate commissions, when earned, help keep Cheri free for shoppers and support further research and product development.

Work in progress

Ethical scoring is complex and evolving. We expect to refine our methodology as new research, data, and feedback become available. When we make meaningful changes to the scoring model, we’ll update this page and explain what changed and why.