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Welcome to Episode 75
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep75
It’s becoming increasingly vital to PROVE your sustainability claims.
Yes, part of that is to do with increasing levels of regulation around what you can and can’t say. But when it comes to growing your brand, the part that often gets overlooked is providing proof, in trustworthy, credible and consistent ways, to your potential consumers.
We’ve had a couple of technology based solutions on the show in the past, including Austin Simms from Dayrize back in episode 11, and Akhil Sivanandan from Greenstory in episode 27. Both are great solutions, but to date mostly focused on supporting the fashion and textiles supply chain due to the huge life cycle data sets available.
But I recently came across another incredible platform that I wanted to share with you on today’s show. Instead of generating transparency for fashion brands, this one is focused on supporting the credibility of thousands of brands in the personal care, cosmetics and home cleaning spaces.
So my guest today is Jessi Baker, MBE, founder of Provenance, a UK-based technology platform bringing blockchain level transparency to sustainability marketing.
For so many reasons I think this might be one of the most important episodes we’ve ever done on this show. My gut feel is that 2023 marks an epoch change in sustainability marketing, from the wild west where you can say anything you want, to a more professional era underpinned by regulation and much more enlightened, cynical and educated consumerism.
Proving what you’re doing with certifications is just one thing. You need to be able to surface that up in a consistent, compliant, recognisable and trustworthy way across all your channels and all your geographies. That becomes an ever more daunting prospect as you grow, and one where tools like Provenance offer the next generation in marketing support.
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Welcome to Episode 74
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep74
If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, you’ll likely have picked up that as a keen diver, the ocean plastics problem was one of my key motivators in setting up Sustainable Ecommerce.
So, there’s a special place in my heart for entrepreneurs working to solve that problem by using or averting ocean plastics.
When my friend Peter Donnelly from the Sustainability Champions podcast let me know about today’s guest, I knew immediately he was someone I wanted to chat to.
Ben Ridding is the founder of Cornish brand ULU Ocean Explorer. The brand helps people connect with and explore the ocean with their range of dry bags, but it’s their journey to using ocean-bound plastic to make their products that really piqued my interest. As we dive into the conversation, it becomes clear just how powerful and congruent their brand story is, and as more and more brands talk about using recycled plastic, how important it is to weave in an authentic story of impact to really resonate with consumers.
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Welcome to Episode 73
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep73
Back in the first show of the year, I proposed the brand collaborations were going to be one of the most important marketing strategies for 2023, so I though it was well and truly time we explored what that actually means, and how to do it effectively.
Over the years I’ve had many conversations with brand owners about doing brand collaborations. Some, like Maxim Gellman we heard from in last week’s show, viewed them as pivotal to their success, but most have expressed at best a mediocre result, often describing them as a complete waste of time.
So to explore this topic and give you the critical understanding and insights you need to turn your collaborations from Meh to Marvellous, I asked the wonderful Jess Rhufus, founder of Collabosaurus to join us today. If you’re not familiar with it already, Collabosaurus is one of the world’s leading collaborations platforms, kind of like match-making for brands.
With experience from seeing just about every type of collaboration across the 10,000+ brands on her platform, as well as seeing how the strategy has evolved over the past decade, Jess brings some refreshing clarity to this topic.
Get ready to take notes as you listen to today’s show, because the actionable tips come thick and fast!
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Welcome to Episode 72!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep72
As we know, authorities around the world are hard at work stamping out single use plastics, especially within the food service and hospitality space. Reusable alternatives to things like coffee cups have exploded in usage, and are a genuine alternative for the majority of times when you’re grabbing some caffeine.
But what happens for spontaneous purchases?
News in NSW recently was that the much vaunted compostable cups were going to get banned because they were starting to contaminate waste streams, and causing just as many problems as they solve. Carrying re-usable everything, while likely the most sustainable option, frankly just isn’t that convenient.
So if plastic is on way out, coated paper isn’t all that crash hot – what other alternatives could there be?
Enter the concept of edible tableware. We’re just starting to see the idea of this creep into Australia with a few brands doing edible cups, but my guest today, Maxim Gelmann is someone who’s been pioneering this concept since 2015. His brand Stroodles started with pasta-based straws, but now covers everything from plates to ice cream spoons.
Whether or not the items used actually get eaten is almost beside the point – what I loved most about Maxim and Stroodles is how he sees the brand’s role in making sustainability more accessible to mainstream consumers.
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Welcome to Episode 71!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep71
On last weeks show we opened a doorway into sustainable logistics with Sendle. James last week just touched on Collection Points, or PUDO points as one facet of their drive towards Net Zero logistics.
In today’s show, I wanted to dive a little deeper, and help you understand just how important they can be in delivering a better customer experience, how they can help you offer more sustainable delivery options to your customers, and how they may be able to help facilitate a more cost-effective approach to circularity.
So, my guest today is David McLean, founder and CEO of Hubbed, Australia’s leading Collection Point network.
As you’ll disover, not only are Hubbed the provider handling the collection point platform for Amazon and eBay with nearly 3000 locations around Australia, they can also help any brand offer the surging demand for Click & Collect services normally only accessible to hybrid or bricks & mortar brands.
With last mile delivery estimated to contribute 50% or more of the carbon emissions for order fulfilment, I do think Collection Points are a critical puzzle piece that all brands should be evaluating.
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Welcome to Episode 70!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep70
I thought I’d start with something a little different today, so here’s a little riddle:
What am I? I am used by every single physical product brand in every vertical. I am essential to your business model. I am essential to your customer experience yet I am almost completely out of your control. I am one of the largest part of your cost base and one of the largest parts of your carbon footprint.
Did you figure it out?
Of course, I’m talking about logistics, specifically order delivery. Its something that most brands take for granted, and like I alluded to, simply go with the easiest or cheapest option.
Of course these days, Australia Post has made giant strides to reduce their carbon footprint, but the provider that challenged them to do that and to this day is still leading the way in terms of sustainability innovation with their drive towards Zero emissions and support for circularity is of course Sendle.
Today I’m chatting with James Chin Moody, the founder and CEO at Sendle, about their journey from humble gifting company to global logistics provider.
We chat about the complexities of Net Zero logistics, about challenging state-run monopolies, and about how Sendle’s operational DNA is quite different to other logistics providers, putting them in the driver’s seat to empower the circular economy.
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Welcome to Episode 69!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep69
There is no doubt that we are now entering the age of increased scrutiny. Scrutiny from regulators who are increasingly cracking down on false claims, but also scrutiny from potential customers and consumers who are looking to for ways to validate their choices and feel confident that brands they buy from are doing the right things.
That usually means 3rd party certification, and by far the fastest growing certification brand in terms of both consumer awareness and brand adoption is B Corp.
You’ve almost certainly already heard of B Corp Certification, but if you haven’t, it’s a business level certification that examines the conduct and impact of your business across 5 key areas – including workers, customers, environment, community and governance.
If you’re a sustainable, purpose driven brand, its quickly becoming a very important part of your proof landscape, but the benefits of going through the process by no means stop at getting a nice badge to add to your website.
To explore B Corp in more detail and help give you a deeper understanding of what’s involved, my guest today is Tim Jones, founder of Grow Good.
Tim in fact was the first qualified B Corp Consultant in NZ and is better known as That B Corp Bloke, and since 2014 has helped hundreds of brands of all sizes successfully navigate what is a complicated and often daunting process.
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Welcome to Episode 68!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep68
On today’s show we take a look at a brand that’s turning the sales of sustainably-made bedding basics into social good. Laura McConnell Conti is the co-founder of GoKindly, a social enterprise that donates 50% of profits to women and non-binary people experiencing housing stress through charities like Juno and Women’s Housing.
In our chat Laura shares her personal journey towards starting a business-for-good, and the journey the brand continues to be on in evaluating the most sustainable way to make bedding basics like quilts and pillows, including taking responsibility for end of life.
We also explore Laura’s commitment to what she calls the Kindness Circle, how that requires conscious decision making at all touchpoints with the brand, and how they’ve distilled all the incredible things they do down to a simple message that both customers, employees and other stakeholders can understand and get on board with instantly.
That my friends, is the very essence of sustainability marketing!
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Welcome to Episode 67!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep67
Last week we heard the first part of our conversation with Lucy Jeffrey from Bare Kind, and we explored how she communicates impact, which included some really important lessons for all impact-entrepreneurs.
If you haven’t already listened, I recommend you backtrack and listen to that episode first, because it sets us up for today’s show.
But the reason I asked Lucy to join me was that in just 12-18 months, she has been phenomenally successful in driving growth through wholesale channels, bringing on over 700 stores.
With profitable growth being trickier than ever for eCommerce brands this year, especially sustainable brands with an inherently higher Cost of Goods, I wanted pick Lucy’s brains and give you access to some of the key insights she’s picked up on how to make that work.
To quickly summarise where we got to in the last episode, Lucy’s brand has been growing very well, with 10X growth in 2021 and then doubling into 2022, but largely due to the increasing cost of acquisition together with increases in retail shipping costs, their growth in 2022 came without increased profit. Bare Kind have a largely giftable product set that is heavily seasonal, 60% of their revenue is tied to Christmas sales, so to smooth that out as well as find a more profitable growth strategy, she’s turned to wholesale, specifically through wholesale marketplaces like Faire.
In this episode we dive into more details about Lucy’s strategy so that you can replicate her success.
We learn about how to get the most from wholesale platforms, how to price products for success, and much much more.
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Welcome to Episode 66!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep66
Today we’re chatting with a founder who’s every breath is focused on driving profit to enable her brand’s purpose. Lucy Jeffrey is the inspirational young founder of Barekind, a brand that makes a range of animal themed bamboo socks. With every sale, 10% of profits from go directly to supporting conservation projects protecting the featured animal.
Now, I asked Lucy to join me on the show, not just because she’s growing a really awesome sustainable brand, but because I became aware of the phenomenal success they’ve been having with wholesale, and I wanted to pick her brains about that for strategies you could use in your brands too. However, I was so fascinated by our discussion that we accidentally carried on for over an hour, so to make the content a little more manageable and fit in your day, I’ve decided to split the recording over 2 episodes.
Today’s episode then focuses on Profit and Impact. There are some really interesting lessons I want to share with you about how Barekind communicate their impact, which are immensely important to understand if your brand is strongly purpose-driven. Towards the end, we touch on how important wholesale has been to building a bigger profit base for the brand, which of course enables more impact.
Then, in next week’s show, we’ll come back to the second half of our interview where we’ll explore the exact strategies Barekind are using to get into over 700 retail stores. I’ll be ruthlessly quizzing Lucy for tips and tricks for success in wholesaling, and we’ll learn how you can get your hands on even more insights to take your wholesale strategy to the next level.
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Welcome to Episode 65 of Sustainable Ecommerce!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep65
If you were to take the time to go all the way back to Episode 1, you’d hear my original definition of Sustainable Ecommerce.
While my knowledge of this space has certainly exploded thanks to all the amazing guests we’ve had on the show, chatting to today’s guest forced me to look all the way back to those foundation principles and remember that above all else, sustainable ecommerce is about managing balance.
It’s about managing the balance between profit and purpose. It’s about managing the balance between growth and sustainability, between analysis versus action, between building knowledge internally versus hiring external talent, between supporting small, local and uncertified providers vs validated overseas brands, between enthusiastically sharing how your product is better for the planet vs avoiding greenwashing at all costs.
So, my guest today is Hayden Brass, founder and CEO of Zea, a sustainable health & wellness brand with the goal to improve the quality of life and enrich the wellbeing of 10 million people globally by 2030.
Today’s conversation is a fascinating one because Hayden shares insights into just how pervasive that balance is, across all facets of his brand.
He also candidly shares many of the challenges he’s faced in the struggle to maintain the balance, especially when you’re striving for growth in both business and impact.
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Welcome to Episode 64!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep64
Today we’re chatting with the founder of another brand making very deliberate, conscious decisions to reduce their footprint and help their customers live more sustainable lives.
Prue Rocci is the founder of Rocc Naturals, a dental care brand aiming to make more nutritious toothpaste without the lasting impact on landfill.
In fact every year, over 1.5billion tubes of toothpaste end up in landfill, and being made in a non-recyclable way, there they stay for over 500 years. Rocc has combined a complete reformulation of their paste with biodegradable tubes that break down in just 6 years.
The brand has been on the market for just a couple of years, and quite impressively managed to secure national distribution through Coles in their very first year. Chatting with founders who think about sustainability just as much as growing their brand is always fascinating, and if getting into the big chains is something on your growth horizon, this episode is definitely one for you!
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Welcome to Episode 63 of the Sustainable Ecommerce Podcast!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep63
One of the most important and challenging aspects to sustainability marketing is ensuring your story is authentic. You can and should get science-backed proof in the form of certifications, and I’m working on a mini-series to help you with that later this year.
While those elements are important, they’re not the full story. To choose your brand, customers want to know that your products are both better functionally AND better for the environment. Proving sustainability claims with science does just that, without focusing on proving how your product solves the customer’s problem.
So today we’re exploring 2 other forms of proof that check off both of these two problem sets by talking with a founder that I think is doing this particularly well.
My guest today is Sue Campbell, an Aussie entrepreneur building her solid shampoo brand KIND2 over in the UK. Being bootstrapped, like many brands cashflow is extremely tight, which means spending 10’s of thousands on Life Cycle Assessments was out of sight, yet Sue knew that customers were never simply going to take her word for how her shampoo was both effective and Kind to the Planet.
And to solve that she’s always placed a strong focus on acquiring the 2 forms of proof we’re talking about today. The first is social proof, and of course we’re talking about reviews and testimonials. And the other one is sustainability awards. Of all the brands we’ve had on the show so far, I think Kind2 probably has the biggest trophy cabinet, which is no small achievement given she really only has a handful of products.
What I’m excited to share with you though is the strategic approach she takes to getting those awards.
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Welcome to Episode 62!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep62
Obviously its inspiring and sexy to chat with the founders of brands that have been built from the outset to solve sustainability problems. Whether that’s actively using up recycled materials and eliminating trash or working on minimizing food waste or turning into something of value, they always make for compelling episodes.
But I never want to lose sight of the fact that every brand has an important part to play in how we collectively build a healthier planet.
So, I think it’s really important to cast a hero spotlight too on the brands who’s core Purpose lies outside sustainability, yet still weave conscious, sustainability-focused approaches into everything they do. And today’s guest is a brilliant example of that.
Bridget Carmady is the Founder of Clemence Organics, a skincare brand built on the backbone of certified organic ingredients and Bridget’s experience as a Naturopath.
That’s awesome in itself, but if you isolate the brand Purpose from how Bridget navigates the choices she’s making on everything from suppliers, to primary packaging, to logistics, you’ll see exactly what I mean when I say that any brand can make conscious and sustainable choices.
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Welcome to Episode 61!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep61
As brands we can help consumers live more sustainable lives in many different ways. Perhaps central to our value in that regard is what we make our products out of, the materials we choose to use.
So, I’m always very excited to discover new sustainable materials, especially in the fashion and apparel space. One particular area I’ve been reading up on is the emerging field of plant-base leather alternatives. You may have heard of products like Pinatex made from Pineapple leaves, and Cactus Leaf Leather, which has been taking European fashion houses by storm over the past year or two.
In my humble opinion, neither of these two vegan leather alternatives hold a candle to the Leaf Leather I want to introduce you to today.
My guest is Sridevi Blair, founder at Karuna Dawn, a new ethical and sustainable brand bringing Fair Trade bags and accessories to the Australian market.
I don’t want to get too carried away in my personal excitement about her leaf leather products, because doing so would detract from the overall story of her brand and the importance of the ethical choices she’s making across her various suppliers, which we also explore in this episode.
Nevertheless, Karuna Dawn’s leaf leather products are among the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!
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Welcome to Episode 60!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep60
Frankie Layton is the founder of the Dirt Company, among the earliest of this new breed of brands in the laundry and home cleaning space truly redefining what it means to be sustainable in this category.
As a founder of an early stage brand, it can be so confusing to know the best pathways to grow and evolve, but reflecting back on this conversation with Frankie I’m forced to concede that if I were starting a sustainable brand from scratch, I would approach it just like Frankie did.
If I was designing and improving new products, I would follow Frankie’s methodology.
If I was leading a DTC brand really looking for better ways to operate, I would try to live up to Frankie’s commitment and finally if I wanted a shining example of how to ensure my brand’s Purpose was congruent end to end, I can think of few better brands to model out.
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Welcome to Episode 59!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep59
You might be forgiven for thinking that I’m becoming a little obsessed with brands that turn waste into value, and you’d be right!
Last week we had Goodcitizens, aiming to Untrash the Planet by turning post consumer plastic into desirable eyewear.
This week we have another incredible Aussie entrepreneur, who’s getting even grubbier (pun very much intended) by using insects to turn food waste into protein and fertiliser.
Phoebe Gardiner is the Co-Founder of Bardee, and AgTech start-up from Melbourne who’s managed in just 3 years to scale operations up to processing 40 tonnes of food waste every single day.
Food waste is one of the biggest contributors to Greenhouse Gas emissions. It’s estimated that every tonne of food waste averted from landfill saves nearly 2 tonnes of emissions, so quite aside from the alchemy of turning waste into value, Bardee’s operations are already materially contributing to our struggles towards Net Zero. So much so, that they’re the first insect tech project in the world to become a recognised & certified Carbon Offset provider.
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Welcome to Episode 58!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep58
It’s so tempting isn’t it, to believe that other brands and other entrepreneurs have all the answers and so have had an easy path to success. We’ve all been sucked in by the alluring stories of hockey stick growth. Few brands like to share the real story lest it tarnish their investable image.
But when you’re a purpose driven brand, honest & transparency about the realities are far more powerful. Imagine openly promoting your 2500+ failed attempts to make your first. And imaging the emotional challenges of 752 days in which your commitment is tested, your leadership is needed to keep your team motivated, your values are challenged, all the while your bank balance is draining.
What does it take to build an internationally recognised, ground breaking brand from that kind of standing start?
To answer these questions, my guest today is the hugely inspirational founder of Good Citizens, Nik Robinson. Together with his wife and 2 children, all equal shareholders in the business, Good Citizens makes eyewear where the frames are made from 100% post-consumer plastic, and in doing so are executing their Purpose of Untrashing the Planet.
There are a number of things I hope you’ll take from this episode.
Firstly, just how hard it really is to make things out of recycled plastic. I hope you’ll excuse some somewhat self-indulgent questions about the details of how they make products, having been down this path myself I was fascinated by and somewhat in awe of what they’ve achieved with their manufacturing process. And if nothing else, I hope that you pass a BS filter over claims made by many brands about how their products are made from recycled materials.
But in many ways, this episode is the story of how Purpose, and especially the Robinson family’s commitment to each other to see that Purpose through, has sustained them through what continues to be a turbulent journey.
And far from being back-room idealism, Good Citizen’s mission drives everything they do and has enabled a story so compelling that they were able to secure a front window spot at Selfridges in London before they even fully launches, and get invited to speak to the leadership at Tesla, Google and even at the UN.
I hadn’t intended the show to about Purpose especially. But as we were chatting, and my mind increasingly opened to the question of whether Purpose is in fact the key to overcoming adversity and generating resilience as a founder. Please do listen right to the end for my take on that, having had this amazing opportunity to chat with Nik.
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Welcome to Episode 57 of the Sustainable Ecommerce Podcast!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep57
Last week I got to chat with Nikki Ciancio, from Blaek Store, who’s been focused on re-inventing retail and build a model that supports consumers as we all move to a more circular economy. I loved having that different perspective on things, and so this week I though it would be cool to get another angle on things, this time with a Corporate Gifting business.
Michelle Smith is the founder of Curated With Conscience, a gift box brand that, as the name implies is doing the hard work of seeking out brands with ethical, sustainable and purpose-driven stories that match the growing needs of business to work with vendors that align with both their own values as well as their ESG directives.
As you’ll see, far from being an opportunist, frankly like many of the hamper and gifting brands that have sprung up in the past few years, Michelle herself is driven by a deep sense of Purpose, and its abundantly apparent that it’s those values that have both driven her business growth to date, as well as what will see her through the current challenging economy that we are all experiencing.
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Welcome to Episode 56 of the Sustainable Ecommerce Podcast!
https://sustainable-ecom.com/ep56
This week we return to sort of normal programming by chatting with the founder of a sustainable retail store. Nikki Ciancio is the Co-Founder of Blaek Store, a retailer store attempting to define a better model model for supporting consumers on their journey to sustainability.
Of course, Nikki’s brand is doing the hard work of carefully curating sustainable and ethical brands to sell in store, making Blaek a go-to destination for buying better on the Northern Beaches, but much more than that, she’s providing the consumer service structure needed to help us move towards a circular and lower-consumption economy with recycling, recommerce and repair services needed to keep items in circulation for longer.
What’s especially interesting to me is that they think of themselves as a fashion retailer, and so they really are forging a new type of sustainability store. In the show today, Nikki shares her experiences in forging new type of retail store, as well as her opinions on exactly what sort of information brands should be providing to help consumers make better purchasing decisions.
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