Amschela's story
We knew that our brand ethos of 'People & Planet before Profit' was a serious undertaking and we began to look at how we could implement this.
We researched companies that we could align our values with and that would help us to be transparent in our ethical approach.
In doing so we found Greenspark and through them, we were able to actively begin to start the first part of our positive impact journey, which allows us to plant one tree or remove one piece of plastic from the sea per sale.
We also approached the West of England Combined Authorities with our idea and they agreed to fund the process which made our dreams a reality.
We received £10k towards changing our brand packaging and help to research and develop our 1st Signature Vegan product that will help us become a fully vegan brand by April 2022. This will align with our pledge to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and confirm us as an approved brand. A massive achievement for us and one that makes us very proud.
Useful learnings from Amschela
Our advice to others is that it is important to be clear about the message your brand will promote going forward. As a business, you are in a powerful position of sharing influential messages to your audience and we wanted to make a positive difference with our product.
One challenge we faced was the significant cost of vegan and ethical packaging materials which seems to have increased significantly as brands race to zero. We learnt that it is important to research several packaging companies and it was important to see their code of ethics and complete supply chain to satisfy ourselves that they fully align with our brand.
We would also say take your time with the process to ensure that you get it right and make it something that you can be proud of. Think about all the aspects of your product not just the obvious. From the materials, processes and packaging and work to remove the damage you may be inadvertently causing. Ask for support, other companies have been through similar processes – it is good to know that you are not doing this alone and their experience and stories will be so useful in making decisions and choices.
It has helped us enormously to be supported by companies such as Greenspark who have given us a framework to having 100% traceability in all our products by 2025 and to be a Zero Carbon brand by 2030. Using their dashboard to display our metrics shows us and our customers that our actions are having a positive effect and motivates us to do more.
We were also excited to speak at the Planet Mark Zero Carbon event in Bristol earlier this year and share the story of our sustainability journey. It is times like this that we realise how far we have come and we would encourage other companies to do the same.
Amschela's metrics
Tonnes of CO2 saved (1.05)
Number of plastic bottles saved from landfill (150)
Number of trees planted (125)
