E010 - Catherine Farrant from Ossa Organic

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Hi, Katherine, welcome to the show. Thank you very much for joining us on the Green Element Podcast. So I guess tell us a bit about your business and what your purpose is and who you work with.

Hi, Will, thanks so much. Yeah, my name is Katherine Farrant. I'm the founder and CEO of Ossa Organic, and we are the UK's first gut-healing food business. Now you might be saying, what on earth is that? But gut health is quite important and really re-emerging at the moment as one of maybe the key benefits to having better health, a longer life, and a kind of happier tummy, I guess. So I founded the business in 2012 when I fell pregnant with my first son and started to look back to ancient ways of how people nourished themselves and their bodies. And turned out that food Food was used as medicine, as opposed to today where we're kind of taking medicine as food. And I just love the idea behind bringing back all these ancient and traditional ways of doing things into the modern world and reeducating people how to heal their bodies using natural food. And so the business started to trade in August 2015, and it's our 3rd birthday halfway through this month. And I'm very proud to say that we are helping reeducate the UK market about natural food, the power of no preservatives, no chemicals, and a low toxic load on the body.

Brilliant. That's— yeah, that's— I love this job. I love the fact that I'm talking to so many different people in so many different businesses. Love it. Love it. So what would you say your business superpower was?

At the moment, definitely our supply chain, I would say. We have just been very proud to be announced as a B Corp Best for the World honoree in the environment category. So what does that mean? That means that we are one of only 2— I think you are the other one.

Yes, that's right.

One of only 2 B Corps in the UK who have an environmental sector also or that meets a certain criteria in the environmental space that is sustainable, that is exceptionally high quality, and that is set up with care for the environment in mind. So we are very proud that at the moment, where possible, our supply chain is run on renewable energy. We have a biomass boiler, so once we've boiled our bones for up to 24 hours, we return them to the grid to create further energy. The organic farm that Oss is produced on has solar panels on the roof across the entirety of the farm. And where possible, based on the UK's environment, we run on renewable energy. We also upcycle bones, which means that most bones in the UK, before bone broth made a resurgence, used to be incinerated, which meant they were a waste product. And farms were having to pay once these bones had been butchered to burn them, incinerate them, and get rid of them effectively. So we now collect the bones so long as they meet our criteria. We are Soil Association and Organic Farmers and Growers certified. So if we have bones that are grass-fed to organic standards and from animals that are well cared for without hormones or antibiotics, we will collect those. And they used to be free, funny enough, Will, but they're not anymore. So we'll pay for them and we will bring them back to the farm and create a bone broth from them and then return them back to the farmer.

Thank you.

the goods. So we're very proud of that, and I think building a business with a sustainable supply chain is our real superpower.

Brilliant, brilliant. So can you tell us about how you engage your staff, suppliers, customers with your mission and purpose?

Someone asked me yesterday actually whether it became impossible to do business or create a bottom line or profit from something that was related to your mission if you would change your mission or change what you were selling, and I was like, well, Ossa is built on a mission, which is to reeducate people, as I said, about the power of restorative foods, enable people to nourish and heal their bodies by incorporating Ossa into their daily lives. And we try and only work with suppliers that get that. So our story is very closely linked with our choice of suppliers at the moment. As I said, they have to meet our criteria, which makes it possible to call ourselves organic and makes it also possible for us to supply into supermarkets. So I would say that we would change relationships before we thought of compromising our mission. We work together with our suppliers to reduce waste. We work together with our suppliers to promote the use of renewable energy. We encourage our suppliers to look at the B Corp credentials and help raise themselves up to that level. We encourage, and I do myself personally, and I know you do as well, we're like-minded in that way. Anyone I speak to, I'm like, you should become a B Corp. So That supply is included. We visit our suppliers and look at the way that they're doing things and the way that they're thinking, etc., etc. Are they looking at just profit or triple bottom line, like people, planet, and profit? And we engage with like-minded people. And I think that's really what makes the world go round. It's about working with people that get it.

Yeah.

So that's on the supply front. I think our customers naturally are like-minded. They read the back of pack and they go, hold on a minute, these guys are a B Corp. Hold on a minute, look at the sustainable cycle in terms of what they're doing with the waste product and what they're creating. We're relaunching our pack shortly and we actually are putting our life cycle, sustainable life cycle onto the back of our packs because we have drawn to us customers that are interested in our superpower and that want to help us progress our mission. And I think actually going forward, customers no longer are interested in stuff, stuff, stuff, and more stuff, especially in the FMCG market. It's more about now, what is this brand doing that's going to make my world better for me tomorrow and for my children the next day? And what is this brand doing that's making the people that work in that company feel great about themselves, making me feel good about myself, and making me feel that by consuming this brand that I'm doing good, A, for my body naturally, because we are all about no sugar, no wheat, you know, we're a natural food business. But B, for the environment. And I think if you can support a B Corp brand in the FMCG space and beyond, you You're just doing good. And I think you're the same as me in that having access to this community now, I don't really look outside of it for services anymore because it's really empowering to know as a consumer of services and goods that if someone meets a very, very high standard, and both you and I know that the B Corp standard is very high and the level of sustainability standards that people like you and me hold our businesses to is very high. So if we can do that work on behalf of the consumer, I think they get that real benefit from just consuming the product. And that's what we want, happiness through the entire chain.

It's weird, isn't it? I had a meeting the other day and the meeting ended on quite a sour note. And it wasn't that he was— it was the way that he was trying to sell his service to us. I just thought, wow, that's— it was like a really crass old window salesman. And I just— and it wasn't that I think that his service was actually very good, and I think he was potentially a nice person, but his sales delivery was horrendous. And it really made me go, oh my God, because it was a pushy. Buy this now. If you, if you, you know, it's £3,000, if it's, it's £2,000 if you buy it right now on this call. Go on, do it. And I was like, I'm not gonna be pressurized into buying. And actually, it was more about the pressure of being told to do something straight away. And I just thought, no, that's awful.

And I think that the, the, the way that old sales tactics are promoted and are it's taught to people is, is definitely changing because we're dealing with a way more educated consumer now.

Yeah, yeah, and I think, and it's, and it's that whole— it's— I wouldn't necessarily think it's just, just B Corp mentality, but I think it's a— it's guaranteed you talk to someone that runs or works in a B Corp, they're going to think the same as you, but there are an awful lot more businesses out there. And I think, I guess, interviewing people on this podcast, I've learned there's a lot of companies, organizations that we're talking to that aren't B Corps that have that same mentality. And like you said, it is changing. It's absolutely changing.

I think that's what's so exciting is that the B Corp community is really fledgling in its potential because it's, as you say, there are so many untapped businesses that don't even realize they're running just like a B Corp. And in my day job for 9 years, which is now something I consult to as of last week, which is quite exciting.

Oh, congratulations!

Thank you so much. So having worked in a really actually outstanding, in my opinion, wealth management firm as a partner for 9 years, you talk to a lot of people who have sold businesses naturally and getting a lot of money and wondering what to do with it. And you really start to realize that people have— a lot of people have set up these companies with all the right ideas in mind, and now there's a home for people like us who want to look at people, planet, and profit and make the world a better place. And I think that's what's so great is when you can bring these people together under one umbrella and we're not just all kind of feeling quite alone in our mission.

Yeah, no, absolutely. So I'm going to ask you, if you could offer one piece of advice to our listeners that could help them with their purpose, what would that be, please?

I think it would be to be clear your purpose and also to be realistic. And that's something that I've come up against quite a lot since founding Ossa, and I'm sure you feel the same, is that we do have exceptionally high standards that can sometimes be debilitating. And you have to understand that your mission isn't always going to be 100%. So long as you have that focus on the long game and what it is that you're trying to achieve and the kind of slow movement that you're trying to make to make change, I think you will be successful. Because I found myself in the early days being very prescriptive about what I believed you know, our mission to be and not wavering on little points that didn't really matter. It's that kind of don't sweat the small stuff advice, which is look at your bigger picture, remember that it's a marathon, not a sprint, and also remember that we're functioning in 2018. Like, we are not— in our minds, I believe B Corps are 20, 30 years ahead of the curve. So we are still in a commercial environment that has edges that are not that are very sharp to us B Corps. And I think if you try and push too much against those and you stall yourself on your mission, it can be a problem. So just understand that yes, you are a B Corp, or you are setting up a business with a sustainable supply chain, or you want to do that. And for people that do, I'm more than happy for them to get in touch for pointers, etc., etc. But remember, you're doing it in a world that's still a little bit behind our thought process. So give and take a little bit, and remember that to be commercially savvy sometimes. And if that's going to help you get a step ahead to further your mission in the long run, then sometimes you have to be a bit more open-minded and realize the world you're working in, if that makes sense.

Yeah.

So just to repeat, focus on your mission for the long run. Don't sweat the small stuff. And sometimes you have to understand the modern world is very difficult when it comes to what we're trying to achieve. So work around those corners, but never, never letting that stop you completely, because that's when you've lost.

That is one hell of a piece of advice, and I think really, really useful. That's brilliant, absolutely fantastic. Thank you for that. So you actually talked about this a bit at the beginning with the fact that you won— you're one of the best companies in the UK for environment. Can you tell us a bit how you approach your environmental management and your carbon footprint at Ascent Organic?

I'm very I'm very conscious about carbon footprint in our daily lives at home with the family. And I always say us, Osso Organic, is a family-run business and we live the brand at home as well. And so it was quite easy for me to build that thought process into a business. We reduce— our delivery is quite a thing. As you can imagine, in FMCG, you need to get to supermarkets around the country. We're a fresh product, which means we do not have a long shelf life. And I'll say it again and again, long shelf life equals short life. So we say to our customers, you know, which would you rather have? If something's processed and can sit outside of a fridge for 3 weeks without even changing its form at all, you kind of have to worry. So how do you get your products into the hands of your consumers weekly? There are also organic customers buying, say, 4 to 6 pouches of bone broth at a time and freezing them and then just using them on a weekly basis. So we are very conscious of our delivery. We go green where possible. The actual production facility, as I said, has been set up with renewable energy at the absolute heart of it, as I mentioned earlier. Our offices run on green energy, and obviously we switched to Bulb, who I know in 2 iterations. One, because they're a fellow B Corp, and 2, because we helped them raise funds through my—

My agency.

Yeah, and that was a fantastic opportunity for us to get behind the power of green energy. And I think they have quick, nifty little wins, is like, you know, join BULB, refer a friend, and you get £50 or something like that. So it was an easy kind of move for us. We will line up with other B Corps, which, like Wholegrain Digital, for example, who have a cycle-to-work scheme. So coming to work in a green way is very beneficial to us. At the moment, Ossa has only consultants, so we encourage a lot of remote working, and we encourage a lot of use of digital technology to limit carbon footprint. in literal travel or transport time. So that's really valuable. And then the upcycling of a waste product again is it. But I think a lot of people would say, oh, you know, I'm gonna just throw this water bottle in the bin and it doesn't really matter. Ossa Organic is all about the little things. And if each of us just do one little thing a day to decrease the carbon footprint and lower the kind of load on the environment, I think there'll be massive change.

Brilliant, that's great. Thank you. Is there any advice or learning that you'd like to share with everyone listening to this podcast?

Setting up a business is probably the easy part, I'd say, which is, you know, I guess the idea is quite tough. It's people— you have to be called to want to do something that really resonates with you as a person. But the advice would be that when it gets tough, to remember that everything works in a cycle, a little bit like a roller coaster. that loop-de-loop. If it's going, you know, if it's going up, it's gonna kind of go a little bit upside down and go way back down again, but it comes back up again. So my advice really is to surround yourself with really good people, remain highly focused, which I've had to take that advice myself having a startup on the side whilst working full-time, and I've got 2 young children. I suddenly realized I'm not practicing what I preach, and so having focus in the last short while has been invaluable to me. And just believing in what it is that you're trying to achieve. So self-belief is hugely powerful. Focus is hugely powerful. And a team of people that are gonna help you along on your mission. Those 3 things would be my key advice pillars.

Brilliant. Thank you so much. That's— well, what a plethora of advice you've just offered across this whole interview. Thank you so much for coming on and letting us into your way of living, I guess. It really is living, isn't it? It's— yeah, you're running a business, but you're also living a business by the sounds of it and practicing what you preach. You got— what I was going to ask you is, do we have a way that we can connect with you, learn more, understand what it is that you're doing? You know, is there any way?

Absolutely. Thanks. Well, we've got on the back of all of our bone broth pouches, Discover, Share, and Learn with OssOrganics. So you can follow us on Instagram at ossoorganic.com. You can have a look at our blog, which has got lots of interesting articles on how bone broth can be used in 50 different ways. What is the history of bone broth? What on earth is gut health? I feel uncomfortable. I get stomachaches after I eat, or I'm this or I'm that. How can I learn more? How can I change my diet? How can I feel better? So have a look at ossoorganic.com and click on the blog link where you can have a look at a couple of articles. And then please do engage with katherine@ossoorganic.com.

Awesome.

We are in that awkward stage where we kind of have been a fun startup business and we're growing to the next level now. So that you will see a lot more really cutting-edge content and a lot more of exciting images and ideas and new products that we'll be launching and sharing and teaching you about in the next 6 months to a year. You'll also be seeing more of us on different shelves and in different outlets, which is really exciting. And hopefully in a year's time we can catch up again and And everyone will be fully informed as to how to look after their microbiome, because I think a lot of people suffer unnecessarily with digestive issues, and it's just a few simple changes that can really make a difference. So engage with us by all means. We are growing as a business, and so if there are people who are looking to start businesses with sustainable supply chains and they want to know how, then please do just drop me a line. I'm very, very open to discussing things with people. And I think there's many other B Corps who are way ahead of us, organic, who have a similar approach, and I love that about them. Any ideas as well, please do get in touch. We will also be at the Wanderlust Festival in Battersea Park on the 15th of September. Ah, okay.

Battersea Park's in London.

In London. So if you've never tried bone broth, you can come to our bone broth bar. It is going to be pretty cool. And cool because I had to laugh when I saw that Coachella, which is a massive, almost like a Glastonbury in America, had a bone broth bar there this year. So come and check out the coolest bar you've ever seen. And we're also launching a new product there called ACV, which is an apple cider vinegar-based gut tonic. So really delicious, kind of almost like a soda, I guess, without the sugar, all natural, with many health benefits. So we'll be there with our ambassadors to teach you all about that. So come and see us.

Brilliant. Thank you so much. And of course, we'll be putting all those links on the podcast notes. So do visit our podcast page on the website in order to see those. Thank you so much, Catherine, for your time today. It's been absolutely fascinating listening to you and talking with you about Oster Organic and what it is you're up to, so thank you.

Well, thank you, Will. Yeah, I'm delighted to be a Fellow Honoree alongside Green Elements, so thanks for all the work that you guys are doing as well.

Brilliant. All right, take care now. Bye.

Ciao a tutti. Bye.

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