💛 A Love Letter To Community - Our 4 Year Birthday At Patagonia
Hear about our night in Manchester + catch up on the latest news
This week is a special one. We’ve just turned 4 and we’re getting all sentimental (pass the tissues, no really). To celebrate we cohosted an event with Patagonia (wtf!! Yes you read that right!!) in Manchester called ‘A Love Letter To Community’ - more on that in a second.
First, we wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to all of you. It’s been a cool 4 years. We’ve released databases, websites, 100s of brand spotlights, 100s of quick dives into topics that have hopefully helped you, mapped 1000s of partnerships and more importantly - (hopefully) inspired you. Every now and then we hear a juicy story of a brand that re-evaluated a decision based on something we wrote, or reached out to a new partner based on information we shared. We’ve even been told that whole new drink lines have been created, people have found jobs, and people have found the courage to leave jobs (spicy!!) from our content. If you, somewhere along the way, have found yourself inspired over the last 4 years - please let us know. As a totally volunteer-led team, it would mean the world.
We also want to shout-out the Following the Footprints team - past and present - who have committed countless hours on week-nights and weekends to keep this platform going. No one has to do this, no one is paid. They’re the best of the best and have made the last 4 years a true joy.
Ok, tissues away, let’s recap last week…
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> Event Recap…
11th February 2025: Our ‘Open Mic’ Night with Patagonia
Last Tuesday, the Following the Footprints team descended on Manchester. Well, on the Patagonia Showroom in Manchester specifically. To celebrate our fourth birthday, nod to Patagonia’s long-standing support of grassroots climate action, and pay homage to a looming Valentine’s day, this Open Mic-style mixer was titled ‘A Love Letter To Community’.
In case you’ve missed previous Open Mic events like this one - no one actually sings. Instead, we introduce a question to the group, and let the conversation roll from there. No one can speak for more than a minute, and we encourage attendees to ask questions and share examples alongside their opinions. It gets juicy, fast.
Let’s set the scene.
It’s a cold February night in Manchester. The warm glow of Patagonia’s showroom was exciting for three reasons - first, there’s next seasons’ samples on the shelves and boy are they cool. Second, the sweet sweet sight of The Uncommon’s crisp and sparkling white and rose, Shandy Shack’s Elderflower Lager Top and Raspberry Lager, and Lucky Saint’s no alc nectar catch your eye. Lastly, you look around and it’s 50 of Following the Footprints’ Manchester nearest and dearest bundled together and chatting furiously.
7.30pm comes around - Leone welcomes everyone to the evening, Laura shares more about Following the Footprints, and Lisa and Alex from Patagonia give us a glimpse into how Patagonia thinks about their community. Next, it’s time to Open Mic.
Like all our Open Mic events, there’s one key question that we kick things off with. This time, it’s - Can consumer brands truly prioritise their community, if they’re also trying to sell to them? We’re not holding back round here.
What did we discuss?
We never share exactly what attendees said - it’s Chatham House rules and really, you had to be there. However - here’s a taste of the topics we covered:
What can we learn from brands directly employing, or economically boosting, their local community? Why don’t more brands focus on right where they are situated, and build deep roots there? Examples we shared included Hiut Denim and industries like local Scottish wool mills.
People along the supply chain can’t be forgotten when a brand talks about community - it can’t just include customers.
Timpson’s was raised as an example of a successful company that is truly changing people’s lives, and doing so in a very authentic way. We tried to brainstorm brands that were started to fix problems in their local community, and the list was shamefully short.
Listen first - Patagonia approaches granting for their 1% for the Planet pledge by first listening to what their grantees (and potential grantees) actually want. We can’t assume we know without asking.
Is organised fun actually superficial? Or really is the decline of third spaces a call for brands to be a convener and lean into that role, especially if they have space or budget to physically bring people together?
Is it less authentic when community-engagement is marketed? Can community action be sustained if it’s not, however, making financial sense for that brand?
Communities are tired of being asked what they need, and the action then not happening. A great example of this was the Black Lives Matter movement, when pressure was put on black colleagues to say what they needed but fast forward to now and many DEI policies are being withdrawn with no resistance.
Evidence shows that consumers are statistically more likely to buy from brands they trust, than they are from brands they think are doing a great job environmentally.
Changing human behaviour is really hard! Can we even rely on consumer research which says they would include the environment or how much they trust that brands in their purchasing decisions? Consumers are overwhelmed!
The Consensus
We didn’t come to one united answer - a show of hands at the end about whether consumer brands can truly be community-led if they’re trying to sell to that community showed a very split room. This is good! We wanted discussion, and we need to interrogate our own methods of supporting communities (local and global) in order to do better as an industry.
Thank you to all our partners for this event - Lisa and Alex from Patagonia, Florence from The Uncommon, Will from Shandy Shack, Olivia from Lucky Saint, and of course the brilliant FTF team not already mentioned - Indira and Rosalin.
Want to join future FTF events? Add your name to our invite list here…
> The Good(s) News
🎯 Meatable and Pelagen announced their partnership to advance sustainable leather technology. This beyond food innovation helps to enhance the production of high-quality, sustainable skin tissue from animal cells.
🎯 allplants shared news that they are being acquired by Plants and Deliciously Ella to create a new, natural, plant-based powerhouse.
🎯 nibs etc. Ltd announced that they have launched their products at 21 Waitrose & Partners stores. They have been part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Big Food Redesign Challenge these last 12 months.
🎯 Harmless Harvest announced that they are now B Corp certified.
⭐️ ARKET announced their partnership with SOJO, launching a UK-wide repairs and alternations service, with celebrations happening in their Regent Street store in Central London.
⭐️ Mondi Group announced their collaboration with Proquimia to launch paper-based stand-up pouches for dishwashing tabs in Spain and Portugal. Mondi’s internal product impact assessment indicates that the new solution has significantly lower CO2 emissions than its previous plastic packaging.
⭐️ Boots UK announced that its Blister pack recycling scheme now extends to 800 Boots stores, in partnership with MYGroup. Customers who take part in the scheme are able to claim Boots Advantage Card loyalty points in exchange for the used blister packs and other products they deposit in-store.
Have good news? Share it with us - info@followingthefootprints.com!
> Bulletin Board
Events
📆 23rd February - The Sustainable Beauty E-Summit - The Eco Well
📆 24th February - The Future of Protein Production - Future-Proof Group Media - Chicago
📆 27th February - Women in Sustainability Breakfast - Altruistiq - London
> Finally, in case you missed it…
Want more? Check out our Website! You can find more about the team behind this newsletter, dig through our content archive AND check out our handy databases there too.
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Until next time!
Team FTF