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The Journey Towards Sustainable Business. U.S.-China Greener Consumption Forum March 22, 2013. Company Background. “ We Were Thirsty ”. Co-founders Seth and Barry start operations out of Seth ’ s house in Bethesda, MD - February, 1998
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The Journey Towards Sustainable Business U.S.-China Greener Consumption Forum March 22, 2013
Company Background “We Were Thirsty” • Co-founders Seth and Barry start operations out of Seth’s house in Bethesda, MD - February, 1998 • First sale was to Whole Foods regional office with five thermoses and empty Snapple bottle • Introduced world’s first organic bottled tea – 1999; Introduced the world’s first Fair Trade Certified™ bottled tea – 2003 • February 2008 – The Coca-Cola Company makes a minority investment (40%) in Honest Tea • March 2011 - The Coca-Cola Company acquired Honest Tea
15 Years Ago… Support the growth of organic agriculture; promote recycling Help eliminate billions of calories from the American diet Honest Tea Help spread Fair Trade labor standards in the developing world
Why Honest Tea Works As a Brand Honest Company Culture Authentic Ingredients Authentic Taste Authentic Marketing Authentic Relationships Just A Tad Sweet
Taking Community Impact to Scale 0 4000 lbs. recycled in year one 0 200,000 lbs. recycled in first two years
Drink Pouch Brigades • Honest Tea created a lower-calorie, less-sweet, organic thirst quencher for kids, but • The material used to make these pouches is a multi-layer laminate, it isn’t recyclable and most end up in a landfill. • Honest Tea and TerraCycle teamed up • to launch the Drink Pouch Brigades
Our Journey Toward Fair Trade • 1999 – introduced first organic certified bottled tea • Partnered with I’tchik Herb, a woman-owned company on the Crow Reservation, to supply peppermint
A Fair Trade Journey 2003 2009 1/12 Varieties 2011* 19/19 FT Tea Varieties * Tulsi is in the process of being converted to FT
Early Stage Tulsi Agriculture – Organic but not yet FairTrade
Proving Product First • 66% Annual Growth
Closing Thoughts • Sustainability is a journey • Products must be market-driven or market-driving: mission is not enough • Supply chain reliability is critical • Each community has different needs