Positive Luxury recently hosted a webinar with a panel of guest speakers discussing the future of sustainable sourcing and the importance of collaboration within the supply chain.
The power of the consumer
Consumers are making sustainability ‘the choice’ when considering products and services, and this increasing pressure on brands to accelerate their net positive goals is causing businesses to consider the makeup of their supply chains. What was maybe once seen as a purely supplier-and-customer relationship, driven mainly by the bottom line, is increasingly becoming more of a partnership, with the focus shifting from financial metrics to shared values and ambitions.
At the heart of a successful partnership rests two factors; transparency and collaboration. In order for brands and suppliers to make these partnerships work, it will be important that they are willing to innovate together and share the risks that come with that.
For another take on the importance of collaboration in this industry, take a look at sustainable fashion brand PANGAIA’s article in The Collective 2022 Report, who discuss partnering with other brands to help fund expansion of their research into low impact materials and bring new solutions to the market (to read more – click here).
Ruinart Champagne – A case study
The Ruinart Champagne house is the first established house of champagne, dating back to 1729, but after nearly 300 years of being in business they are still looking to innovate and challenge the status quo. They made a decision in 2015 to do away with the classic gift box packaging they had used for years which, due to the mix of materials was difficult to recycle, in favour of finding a new sustainable solution. Frédéric Dufour, President and CEO of Ruinart, highlighted the importance of finding the right partner to work with to help them achieve their vision, and to demonstrate that luxury and eco-consciousness can sit side-by-side.
Ruinart’s partner of choice for this venture was James Cropper; an advanced materials and paper products group that specialises in luxury brand packaging and moulded fibre alternatives to single use plastics. Their shared values and vision helped them to achieve not only a far more sustainable packaging, but to do so while keeping the luxury look and feel of the brand.
Together Ruinart and James Cropper created a ‘second skin’ for Ruinart champagne – an impressive packaging alternative which, compared to the previous gift box, is nine times lighter, has a 60% smaller carbon footprint and is made of one single material, making it much easier to recycle. Not to compromise on style, the second skin is embossed with a digital image of the cellars where the champagne is stored – a very chic touch.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
What is clear from Ruinart and James Cooper’s partnership is that successful collaboration between suppliers and customers takes patience, trust and transparency. It took them two years and seven attempts to get to the final result, combining their resources and expertise and being completely clear and consistent in what they wanted to achieve. Their take home message was really this; real value is created when two organisations come together to do something that either one couldn’t have done on their own.
What we can learn from this, and from brands like PANGAIA, is that in the road to net positive, silos aren’t the way forward. Brands and businesses need to be open to learning from each other, taking risks together and sharing in the success.
Want to join The Collective, and contribute to the debate?
Email us at: The.Collective@lewissilkin.com