Themes explored in this section:
- How do transparency and data provision by suppliers/brands make them more appealing to retailers?
- How does being an e-commerce platform affect retailers’ ability to curate a sustainable marketplace?
- How can a regenerative brand keep its competitive edge when sustainability has become table stakes for many large traditional brands?
From a sourcing perspective, whenever we launch a product, we really do a lot of diligence prior to even launching any SKU. It’s a deliberate exercise where we ask ourselves, “If we’re going to use an ingredient, how far can we go with it?” The worst thing you could do is launch a beautiful product, you are supposed to go national with a big, huge chain, and then all of a sudden you have no more to give to it.
White Leaf started on a very small scale and from the very get-go, we were always going to pay farmers a fair price for their crop. We understood the time and the effort it takes to grow these crops. I think that formed strong bonds and relationships with these farmers. So as we were scaling, they were able to scale with us.
Hive wants brands to give us sourcing information because it not only helps us see that there are legs behind the sustainability claims that they’re making, but it also helps build trust with our customers because we’re able to put a lot of that information on the product pages, beyond what you would normally see on-pack or on-shelf.
