The Future of Sustainable Sourcing
Businesses are under pressure to ensure their supply chains operate to recognised best practices. Luxury must reimagine the relationships between brands and suppliers on the road to net positive. Diana Verde Nieto, Co-CEO of Positive Luxury explores why and how collaboration is now essential in the value chain with our CEO, Phil Wild.
Question 1. James Cropper has a history of innovation and disruption. What are the challenges that you overcame to meet expectations on the Ruinart Second Skin project, and to actually come up with something so ground-breaking?
There's a lot of common values between Ruinart and James Cropper, particularly when it comes to luxury and authenticity. Great heritage and – the piece that really stands out for both organisations – the spirit of innovation.
The evolution and the challenge of moving away from something that was quite traditional, and to run with the project of the Second Skin, was all about a commitment to sustainability and authenticity.
Being 60% less carbon footprint, it's nine times lighter than the previous box, it is what we call mono-material, which means that it is one single material that's used. All from responsible sourced FSC wood pulp.
This is a point of sale item as well, and so being able to create the design on the surface – and that design is actually an embossed representation of the cellar walls where the champagne is stored – for that luxury feel.
I think we were pretty close to seven versions of design in having an integrated securing mechanism that opens the wrap around the bottle, and it also has that satisfying click when you close it, so it supports the whole ambience around the product itself.
The button closure, was probably one of the biggest challenges that we had, but what we've created is something that's really put a lot of science in the design, and capability in there, in order to create something that is absolutely luxury and fit for a brand such as Ruinart.
Question 2. Did you have to compromise in your vision at all, and also you what have you learned that you can actually pass along?
Two years and seven variations to get to this point and I don't believe the product has been compromised.
There were learnings on route. An example is the Blanc de Blanc, which actually has a clear bottle, and sunlight can come through the packaging and it has the ability to potentially degrade the product that's in there. So, it's really important to have a package that is also protecting the sparkling wine, the champagne.
We did quite a lot of trials to put mineral additives in the paper in order to protect that, and we achieved that, and it was important to do it in a sustainable way. We found an additive, a mineral, which also allows the product to be totally recyclable afterwards.
One of the reviews that we undertake is a life cycle analysis, of really understanding what it is that we're doing and it’s impact. Our Colourform business, the business that supports this project, is now 100% supplied by solar energy.
The collaboration does need to be authentic. The partnership isn't just environmental, this is a commitment to employees, it's a commitment to the to the community and it's a very deep set values of both organisations, of who we are and what we stand for.
Question 3. Will a customer pay more and wait longer for high quality sustainable materials?
It’s about being transparent and being honest about the authenticity of a product and being able to really understand where that product has come from.
That brings a real value, so this isn't just having sustainable packaging we're talking about, this is a whole. For example, it's the champagne, it's the origin of the champagne, it's what the brand stands for, it's the packaging that it's in and that drives a value for the product.
It's important to understand where has the packaging come from, for example ours comes from FSC certified and authenticated forestry. For every one tree that used, other trees are planted, so it's a sustainable process. It’s being transparent, being front and forward about what the product is, what it stands for and it is truly driving value.
So, I wouldn't necessarily put a price on this, other than to say there is a generation today that are far more discerning than in the past, and making their buying decisions based on the authenticity of the products. They see sustainability as more important than it was, the social aspect is more important than it was, the environmental impact is more important than it was.
I think one of the differences is how far out we look. We wouldn't have done seven versions of this, we wouldn't have waited two years doing this, if we hadn't been thinking long-term.
More importantly, thinking about what is the right thing to do to get this right. To put transparency in terms of the product that we're producing, and providing something that is fit for purpose in terms of the luxury item that we're supporting.
I think what is good to see with the Second Skin partnership with Ruinart is that we've got two businesses who have been valuing those sorts of aspects for many many years, and are now taking a long-term view.
Question 4. What do you think could be the next gen packaging solution for luxury fashion brands without losing the luxury experience of unwrapping?
Let me talk about a couple of trends that we're working on at the moment.
Colour is an area where we are focusing. We're producing coloured moulded fibre to really differentiate the product. What's important is that you know it has to be reportable, recyclable and from a sustainable source.
But thinking longer-term as well, while we’re using virgin pulp from FSC forestry sources, we are also looking at how do we repurpose material or recycle material.
I'll give you another example here, we manufacture the paper that goes into the Burberry bags, now interestingly, 40% of that product is actually made from used coffee cups, and we have our own recycling centre on-site where we're taking material from people like McDonald's and Costa Coffee that would previously go into landfill or be incinerated.
What we're looking for is a new lease of life for products that would otherwise go into those areas. This is what we would call post-consumer waste, and more importantly is that once we provided a new life to that product then it can go on after that to be recycled and repurposed again into different products.
So we're seeing a number of trends in this area, and it's taking an environmental standard and going way beyond.
It's also about the design, circularity, how we design to reuse and remanufacture, so having a beautiful luxury point of sale item with fantastic environmental credentials as well.
Question 5. What is the secret of a successful partnership with brands, and also how would a small brand or a start-up which have sometimes very little money actually influence suppliers?
There has to be an alignment of values when we're working on long-term bespoke projects.
We talked about transparency of product, I would also introduce transparency of partnership as well. Many things go wrong when you're developing a product, and to have a very open and honest discussion with your partner of what works and doesn't work, and also a constant spirit of challenging as well.
What we've created together with Ruinart, the Second Skin product, is something that is truly ground-breaking and that I would say that neither one of the companies would have achieved had we not be working very closely together.
Really understanding what was feasible and challenging each other as well, so it's that open, honest, trusting relationship which is at the heart. That sits with the purpose of both companies, and the values those companies have.
Covid has been a challenge over the past two years, but to have some face to face, look, see, smell, and feel about what the other organisation is like is also really important.
We work a lot with small companies and start-up companies as well. It can't be exclusive to just work with very large brands, although clearly that's something that we do, but not exclusively.
It's important, particularly around innovation, to be working with a whole variety of brands and start-up brands, again this has to be in the spirit of looking long-term.
If the brand is going to launch and develop, if we are part of that from the very early days and onset we can help to support and help that brand build and grow and to start to deliver on their aspirations.
If we weren't in the spirit of innovation, and driving a start-up business, then we wouldn't have Colourform here today. So, innovation has to sit at the heart of things that we're doing, making changes out there, being disruptive.
