🛒 The Check-Out: Minor Figures

+ 5 CPG x Climate events AND what's in our basket - ManiLife, Cadence, Underdays and more...

Jun 20, 2024

Happy Thursday! Welcome to The Check-Out - your weekly dose of brand x sustainability inspiration, and your discovery box of products and events the Following the Footprints team are loving this week. It’s great to have you here.

They say Rome was built on oat milk chai lattes. No, seriously! On the tiny chance it wasn’t, it really should’ve been. With Minor Figures Oat Milk at that. This week we’re digging into the brand we’d love for their stickers and socks alone. By now, you really should know how much the Following the Footprints team enjoys cosying up (with our oat milk chai lattes) and reading an impact report. Today we’re pulling the three things that excited us the most from theirs.

After we look at Minor Figures, we’ll share what the Following the Footprints team has loved and consumed this week and 5 CPG x Climate events coming up…

Wait, does that mean we’re adding events into this newsletter? Well, dear reader, yes. Every Thursday, we’ll share 5 CPG x Climate events you can look forward to. Rumour has we’re coming out with a really cool events calendar next week…. another rumour also said there’s a preview at the end of this email. I’ll leave it up to you to verify that one.

Let’s dig in…

> Brand Spotlight

Minor Figures, Major Impact

Founded in 2014 (on a rooftop!) by three friends, Minor Figures was born from a shared love for really, really good coffee. Now a global brand with over 100 employees across the UK, USA and Australia, they achieved B Corp certification in 2021 and have committed to working with SBTi to set clear reduction targets to become Net Zero by 2030 too.

Oh, they also run really cool ‘Minor Figures FM’ events, are in 4,000 specialty coffee shops, and truly truly champion the independent coffee scene throughout their brand and their business. Ok, back to their climate credentials…

3 things caught our eye in their March Impact Report:

They are reducing raw material transportation in their supply chain
Last year Minor Figures overhauled their APAC supply chain to shorten the distance raw materials travel. Up next - their supply chains in EMEA and North America! Aiming to produce their products closer to their end consumers is embedded in the ‘Environment’ section of their B Corp improvement plan. In 2022 they scored 81.8, by 2025 they’re aiming for 90.
They’ve launched a new packaging innovation - ‘Atomised’
Over the past year they’ve ‘entirely reimagined’ their product - creating ‘Atomised’. Not yet available in the UK, Atomised is their Barista Oat in a highly soluble concentrate - ‘the highest cup quality delivered without water’. Compared to 1 liter cartons, this delivers a 40% reduction in packaging weight, 44% reduction in packaging CO2, and a 85% reduction in road transport. They’re also sharing sustainability analytics with Atomised subscribers, giving their baristas more visibility than ever on the impact they’re having.
They’re considering the switch from offsets to an internal carbon budget
Currently Minor Figures are working with ClimatePartner. They offset 160,348 kg CO2e between 2018-2020 (see their certificate here) and have supported wind energy projects in Nong Wang and Huay Bong in Thailand, and the first large scale wind energy project in Nouakchott, Mauritania too. However, they admit they’re not as ‘close’ to their projects and the impact of their offsets as they’d like to be. On top of this, their approach to carbon management is also shifting - they’re looking to adopt an internal carbon budget - stating that it will help them ‘focus’ their funding more directly. We’re certainly looking forward to seeing what next steps they’ll take.

Over the years, we’ve tracked them working with a range of partners to ‘do better’ - ClimatePartner, Ecofye, HIVED, Tetra Pak, Enval, Ardagh Group and more.

It’s not just their positive impact, it’s their positive energy too. Rather than a typical, slightly dry LinkedIn ‘About’ section, they declare ‘Everyone’s invited. We collaborate, improvise, synchronise. We are wholly authentic, uplifting and constructive. Because magic happens when everyone’s vibing and having a good time’. Now that’s a brand we can get behind.

Check-Out Minor Figures!

*The three Minor Figures founders! Source: minorfigures.com*

> In Our Basket

🔎 What we loved and consumed this week:

From Leone in London: It was a grey day in November 2019 when a tub of MANILIFE Deep Roast Crunchy peanut butter was delivered to the TENZING offices; life hasn’t looked the same since! I just finished another jar and it’s the perfect pre/post workout snack.
From Jenny in New York: During some recent work travel, I was reflecting on how my Cadence Capsules have been quite habit-altering; I used to be a TSA menace with how many toiletries I was toting, and the Cadence capsules allowed me to stop buying travel-sized containers of products while still having all of the products I like on-hand. Plus, they’re working to incorporate more recycled plastic into their supply chain!
From Ellie in London: I’m loving the unbelievably soft and comfortable Underdays underwear, made with longevity in mind. Their cami and workout tanks are perfect at-home comfies, but also what I reach for when going out. Versatile, comfortable, and sustainable - what’s not to love?

> Monthly Events Roundup!

📆 5 CPG x Climate Events Coming Up:

20th June - Textiles Untangled Workshop

Why? Not often enough do we journey through, and educated ourselves about, the supply chains of our clothes. This is a great opportunity for that.
Organisers: Climate Clarity CIC
Location: TownSq Islington, Macclesfield Road, London

24th June - Upcycling Food Waste: What does the future hold?

Why? It’s Upcycled Food Month, and we should all learn how to incorporate more side-streams into our daily life.
Organisers: ReFED, Upcycled Food Association, Where Food Comes From, Inc.
Location: Virtual

26th June - What’s Next for Scope 3?

Why? Experts are gathering to discuss how to overcome the most common barriers that businesses face when trying to track their full set of emissions.
Organisers: World Business Council for Sustainable Development, The Carbon Trust
Location: London, UK

27th June - Implementing CSDDD: Legal Tools for Sustainable Supply Chains

Why? Because despite the new CSDDD directive only currently creating regulations for large companies, its impacts will trickle down to business partners and regulations in the EU tend to have a ripple effect across the sustainability world.
Organiser: Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers (GAIL)
Location: Virtual.

30th June - Agri’Food Systems Workshop

Why? A 3 hour workshop mapping the mechanisms, impacts and components of our global food system? Sign us up!
Organiser: Climate Clarity CIC
Location: Framestore, 28 Chancery Ln, London WC2A 1LB

Sshhhh here’s a sneak peak of our new and shiny CPG x Climate Events calendar….stay tuned for next week’s The Check-Out to learn more, and don’t tell the FTF team I’m showing you this otherwise I’ll get in trouble…

That’s it for today!

Know a brand we should spotlight next? Let Leone know!
Have links that can make the team learn or laugh? Share them with us, we might just share them in The Check-Out next week.
Hungry for more? You’ll see us on Monday! That’s when we suit up and get serious, digging into a topic that is guaranteed to make you look smart at standup.

Much love,

Team FTF