People and Planet Health - How Plantopia are Creating Positive Change

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Hi, and welcome to the Sustainable Business Podcast. I'm Will Richardson. We always look to showcase companies and brands at the cutting edge of sustainability and finding new ways to improve their impact on the environment. Today I'm joined by Victoria Cushing, Product Director at KMI Brands, whose cosmetics brand Plantopia, in the pursuit of a sustainable production process, have completed a comprehensive lifecycle assessment and was founded as a brand both for people and Thank you for joining me on the podcast today, Victoria.

Thank you for having me.

I'm really excited about talking to you today because of the work that you guys do and the way that you complete it as well. I've heard such positive things from the team. So first and foremost, can you tell us a bit more about Plantopia and where the idea for a sustainable cosmetics brand came from?

We actually started working on Plantopia back in 2019, and it all came from the actual name of the brand, Plantopia. And we wanted to create a wellness brand, but not only wellness for people, but also for the planet. And it was really important for us that we were looking to be planet positive for planet and people. It's taken us 4 years to launch the brand, and that's because we had to look at so many different options when we were looking at obviously the planet side of things and had to really make decisions along the way that resonated with what we were trying to achieve. So we were going to be one of the forefront of the wellness, um, brands that were coming out. But actually, because we had so many strong views of what we wanted to achieve along the way, it's taken us much longer than, than we all anticipated. But we're all really proud of, of what we've achieved and the launch that we have just done.

I would imagine you're in a much stronger place than you would have been otherwise, though.

Yeah, I think so. You know, within the beauty industry, Sustainability is such a big word now, and it's always been at KMI something that we have been doing in the background, but measurability is the key within the sector at the moment, and we didn't have that within what we were doing. So that has been at the forefront really of everything that we have been putting together.

And what about your Five Force Focus?

So this is really what is at the heart of our brand. And it really sets out the key focus areas within our People and Planet Manifesto. It describes our sustainability agenda, ambitions, and commitments in line with the UN Sustainability Development Goals. It was created in response to the people and planet challenges impacting the world we live in at the moment. And we broke it down into 5 different sections. People, so enabling and empowering every person touched by our products, practices, and advice through the whole value chain. Ecosystems, which is a big area that we wanted to concentrate on, so preserve and regenerate. And we actually became a member of the UEBT, Union of Ethical Biotrade to ensure that from the very beginning we had traceability of our raw ingredients and that we understood our whole supply chain. And it's really a commitment to conservation and regeneration. Planet, which is the 4 Rs: reduce, remediate the harm that is being inflicted on the environment. So concentrating on remove, reuse, recycle, and reduce. And I think that is where everybody is talking about plastic, what is right to use, what's not right to use, what material, is it good, is it bad, etc. And I think the life cycle analysis was really an eye-opener when we looked into that. Social, fair and equal responsibility for everyone in the value chain to minimize the harm and create positive benefit for the lives that we touch. And then lastly, community. So we wanted to partner with our different companies, evoking a connection and support to everyone the brand touches. So that's basically our 5-4 focus.

Brilliant. It's, it's so comprehensive. I mean, was it something that you had learned about and then tweaked yourselves, or did you come up with the whole thing yourselves? And how did, how did it happen?

So I think there's a lot that's going on within KMI, but also a lot within the industry at the moment. So we are on our B Corp journey. So we have just submitted our assessment. And, you know, this covers a lot of the people and planet, doing better for people and planet. We're also working with key suppliers, looking at what's happening within the industry. I think it was, you know, a real amalgamation of everything and also what was, you know, at the heart of all of us and what we wanted to achieve. You know, we've got some very passionate women and men working on this brand who have great knowledge in some of these areas, and it was just bringing that all together. And one of the things, as I said, measurability was key for all of it. And so we set out our goals that we wanted to achieve, and we've put ambitions in for what we want to achieve by 2025 and what we want to achieve by 2030. And transparency throughout is key. We're not saying that we've got all the answers. We're not saying that we can do it all, but I think it's really important to customers. And we actually spoke to over 1,000 customers and did a survey to find out what was important to them and what mattered to them, and also included that within our manifesto and then published it. I mean, it took a long time to bring it all together, but as we said, we thought it was really important from the outset when we launched the brand to tell people what we believed in, what we wanted to achieve, and how we were going to achieve it.

Wow, it's, um, so comprehensive. And which leads me quite nicely on to, um, you did a full life cycle assessment for Plantopia. How did you find that process?

Really interesting, I have to say. I mean, Green Element were fantastic because this is not something that we had done before, and it's really fairly new to the beauty industry, so having the support of Green Element and taking us through all the different steps, explaining it all, um, really made the whole process actually quite easy. Um, I don't think we wouldn't have been able to do it without your support, um, but it really was quite an easy process in the end.

Brilliant. And were there any obstacles that you perhaps weren't expecting?

I think the biggest obstacle for us was getting the data. So there was some of our suppliers who had all the data and it was there, but others that just wasn't set up for it and hadn't calculated like this before and wasn't used to supplying that sort of data. I think it's a real educating journey, and, and they were all really supportive. So, um, and we've got really great partnerships with all of our suppliers. Um, but it was, it, it was fine if, if it was at that tier 1 level. But when we were looking at raw ingredients, for example, you know, trying to get that data on raw ingredient suppliers is really difficult. And we've got over 122 raw ingredients within our products. So, it's getting that data, I think, was the hardest thing for us. And I think will continue to be so.

Yeah, it's a fairly common theme, that. It's a lot better than it ever used to be. And I think it's getting better and better, because I think people are much more used to holding the data and keeping track of invoices and supply chain, etc. And I think we as organizations are just becoming better at managing it because we're asking for more information in order to reduce it, really. Yeah.

And it's really interesting from doing this. And obviously, we've done a lifecycle analysis on Plantopia in this particular product, but we've also done our carbon emissions as well for the whole business. And I think one of the key learnings for us is to educate our suppliers from the very beginning on what we would need from them going forward in order to ensure that we're keeping up with this and so that we can obviously trace it going forward. And they know from the beginning what, what they need to monitor for us.

With a project such as this, it must have required a full team effort. Was it a challenge to get everyone thinking about sustainability at all stages?

I think, as I said, from KMI's point of view, we've always had it as a key thing within the business. I think it was difficult to bring people back. Obviously, it's a real balance, isn't it, to look at sustainability, commerciality, and what the customer actually wants. Because if you actually speak to the customer, that's still— sustainability is, yes, it's important to them, but it's still not as important as the performance of the product, the ease of use of the product, etc. So, I think it's that debate and within— and healthy debate within the team that I think really worked in making sure that there is that real ambassador that will bring people back and challenge people to think a little differently, which is my role.

Hard, I can imagine. Really hard.

Yeah, it is hard. But I think as long as you set out all the rationale behind what you're challenging on, people do really listen and understand. And I think it's about that education, isn't it? Making people understand the differences between the different options that you're presenting to them.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And did you find this process added to your costs?

Yes, I'm not going to lie about it.

It did.

Yeah, absolutely. But it was, it was something that we had always set out to do throughout. It has added to our costs, all the decisions that we've made from using 100% PCR to collecting the same amount of waste out of the oceans that we— of plastic out of the oceans. All of it has added to our costs. But I think it's about looking at it differently though. And we, as I say, have got brilliant relationships with our suppliers. And it's about everybody taking responsibility, everybody taking a bit of a piece of that cost. So that we can all actually get to the end goals that we want, which ultimately is to be part of the UN Sustainability Development Goals and make them happen.

But ultimately, do you believe the end results meant overcoming these challenges was worth it?

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's given us a really great understanding of the focus areas that we need to work on in the future. And actually, we've already made changes within the supply chain, which result in efficiencies, which then obviously results in cost savings. So although it's added an upfront cost, by understanding the supply chain more, by understanding what efficiencies can be made, ultimately in the long run, it will therefore make cost savings across the board.

And I think that's what people have to Do you have plans to launch similar lifecycle assessments for your other brands?

Yes. So within our Five Force Focus and our manifesto, we've actually committed to doing lifecycle analysis on all the Plantopia products by the end of 2030. So we will be continuing to do that and rolling that out. And then also for Naughty, we will be looking to do it on our top SKUs so that we can understand where we are with those products as well and start looking at efficiencies there as well and reducing our carbon footprint there.

And then one last question. What piece of advice would you offer to any other brands or businesses looking to improve the sustainability of their production process?

So I would say the key thing is to understand your baseline. to really get to know the supply chain, know where those real hotspots are so that you can put in place goals and put in those measurable goals so that you can make the improvements. I would say we, all of us don't have the answers. And I think that's really important for people to not feel overwhelmed by it. You know, you can set goals out and along the line be open and transparent to say we haven't met these goals for such and such a reason. But by setting those goals and setting those ambitions, it's, it's working towards all of us doing better for people and planet.

Thank you very much for joining me, Victoria, and all the best for the future of Plantopia.

Thank you very much for having me, and thank you so much for all your That's it for this edition of the Sustainable Business Podcast.

If you'd like to learn more about Plantopia and their journey, you can find a link to their site in the show notes. There's a link to Green Element's page there as well. And if you want to feedback or if you have any questions, feel free to DM us at Green Element through LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Will Richardson from Green Element. Don't forget to rate, And subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode, and we'll be back next month. Until then, take care.