A few themes we explore in this session:
- How do you think about innovation that might be different from other people and how do you make it work for a team?
- How do you think about packaging in a sustainable/regenerative way?
- What sustainability metrics matter the most and who’s pushing for them?
Coconuts are a monoculture crop, so we’ve embarked on a pretty big project to transition to regenerative organic farming. Last year we had the biggest drought in Thailand in 30 years and with soil that’s not healthy, that’s a risk to our business. We have to make sure we have coconuts that can withstand a drought. So as much as we obviously want to do good in the world it’s also really important for our business.
As product developers and as designers, the more data we can get and the more we can think about ingredient selections, the better we’re going to be when it comes to innovating responsibly and in a way that is regenerative. Working with companies that are data-driven like HowGood helps us make better decisions when it comes to innovating and designing around responsible sourcing.
One of the challenges we have had is ‘How do you market regenerative to an organic consumer that assumes that organic is already better for the world and the environment and biodiversity?’ Organic doesn’t have toxic pesticides and there is generally a little bit less monoculture, but big organic absolutely still has that problem. So, how do we bring our consumers along as part of the journey?