🛒 The Check-Out: Joy Stevenson, MPM Products
+ 5 cool climate events + 3 books that should be on your reading list
Happy Thursday! Welcome to The Check-Out - your weekly dose of climate x consumer goods 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.
Today is National Cat Day! We’re lying, but it should be, because we’ve just spent 20 minutes scrolling through cat pictures whilst perusing the 3 brands MPM Products has on the market. Who makes the rules anyway? Today, we’re taking a big ol’ dose of inspiration from Joy - B Corp Project Manager, and one of the most enthusiastic people we’ve met. She takes us through everything from her tips for brands getting started on B Corp, to the pros and cons of having multiple brands under one roof, and her 3 wishes for the pet food industry.
After we chat to Joy, Jenny shares 3 climate-focused books she’s been loving recently and we roundup 5 Climate x Consumer Goods events coming up. Let’s dig in…
> Brand Spotlight
🎙️ Behind the Brand: 6 questions with Joy Stevenson, MPM Products
👉 Hello! We’d love the non-LinkedIn lowdown on who you are, what MPM Products is focused on?
I'm a full-time working mom at MPM Products (Natural Petfood) embracing balance and letting go of perfection. I love exploring new ideas, from baking and pet nutrition to construction materials. My drive to advance MPM Products on their ESG journey comes to life when I engage with others. Having overcome cancer three times, my independence, curiosity, and resilience make me a bit like a human cat!
👉 What are the impact pros and cons of working in an org that has multiple brands within it?
Yes, we have multiple brands. However the key is that irregardless of which brand you look at they all have the same purpose, values and overall company wide ambition - to be the number one natural pet food brand in the world.
The downside is that when you try and simplify consumer goods in the food industry every region has its own registration process and requirements and so what might be an acceptable ingredient, commodity code and document in one region may not be acceptable in another.
Also, when you are lucky to have a whole bunch of employees who are passionate about the products and regions that they work in, sometimes resource, money and time can be an issue when everybody wants everything at the same time - but a great problem to have!
👉 You’re speaking with a brand at the very start of their B Corp journey - what advice would you give them?
There is never a right time to start such a big project so put your best team forward by choosing a leader who knows your company inside and out and isn’t afraid to have tough conversations or advocate strongly with senior leaders. It's crucial that everyone in the business understands that sustainability goes beyond the innovation team celebrating another line with recyclable packaging. True sustainability involves every touchpoint in your operation.
👉 You’ve worked in FMCG for over 11 years! How do you think the industry’s understanding of ‘sustainability’ has changed in that time?
The pet industry originated from using byproducts of the human food industry, giving brands in this space a unique opportunity to build businesses with a real purpose. Initially, understanding the nutritional needs of animals wasn't a priority due to limited scientific evidence. However, mainly thanks to the power of the internet and global trade, shoppers’ demand has evolved, with shoppers increasingly wanting to understand their pets' nutritional requirements and overall health.
In response, companies have invested significantly in scientific research, more in-depth testing, and the use of natural ingredients, local farmed ingredients, ancient herbs, functional ingredients, and clean labelling etc. This shift marks a positive change towards more informed and health-conscious sustainable pet food products.
Despite these advancements, there is still a long way to go. Global directives and regulations need to collaborate more effectively to consolidate valuable research, drive clean labelling practices, and establish minimum standards. This will ensure the continued improvement of pet nutrition and the overall sustainability of the pet industry.
👉 Ok, magic wand time; if we could grant you three wishes for the pet food industry, what would they be?
Increased Focus on Nutritional Research:
Investment in nutritional research to develop tailored pet food options that cater to the specific needs of different breeds, ages, and health conditions. This includes the creation of personalised diets that can address individual dietary requirements, allergies, and health issues, ensuring that every pet receives optimal nutrition for their well-being.
Higher Quality and Transparency of Ingredients:
Prioritising the use of high-quality, natural ingredients in their products. This includes transparent labelling, where every ingredient is clearly listed, sourced responsibly, and free from harmful additives, fillers, or artificial preservatives.
Sustainable and Ethical Practices:
Drive the industry to adopt more sustainable and ethical practices. This would involve using eco-friendly packaging when NPD is developed, sourcing ingredients from sustainable farms, ensuring humane treatment of animals involved in the production process, and minimising the environmental impact of manufacturing and distribution. Wouldn’t it be great if companies had to create and submit an ESG strategy when they first register with their local government making them accountable from day one!
👉 How do YOU keep up with regulation, industry innovations, climate news and other brands? Any advice on how to up-skill in this space, for our readers?
So, I have always had a love of the “operational” role. I rely on newsletters related to import/export, commodities, and shipping using resources like HMRC, YouGov, and WTO websites.
My go-to source for climate news is Sustainability Beat, which covers a variety of topics related to sustainability. I keep up to date with innovation trends through several online magazines and newsletter like Pet Gazette, Pet Industry Magazine, The Grocer. We are lucky that we also have a top in-house team collating a monthly report for us.
Top Tips – I have three:
Stay focused on core goals: It's impossible to read everything, so stay focused on your company’s purpose, values, and strategic goals - this will help you filter relevant information.
Join an industry group where you can genuinely collaborate: We are super lucky in the Pet Industry that we have a movement called Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC). This group is dedicated to driving positive change through collective collaboration and knowledge sharing within the pet industry. It’s an excellent way to connect with both direct and indirect brands, fostering systemic change. If you are a pet brand or supplier you need to be in this space!
Leverage Multiple Sources: Utilising a mix of official websites, industry-specific magazines, and dedicated newsletters to cover a broad spectrum of information. This approach ensures you're getting comprehensive updates across all relevant areas. Trade shows are a great resource for learning and networking when you don’t have time to read everything as they tend to all have a sustainability showcase and forum section now.
A huge thanks to Joy for jumping into the hot seat today!
> In Our Basket
🔎 What we loved and consumed this week:
Jenny here, your weekly team favourites wrangler. I’m doing something different this newsletter and sharing my recent reading list: books on climate-related topics that I enjoyed and think you would, too.
The Word is On Fire But We’re Still Buying Shoes, a takedown of the current state of the fashion industry and associated insatiable consumerism, from former Highsnobiety Style Editor Alec Leach.
The Day the World Stops Shopping, an exploration of how a hypothetical (grounded in a COVID near-reality) significant halt in consumer spending would impact our economy and carbon emissions. J B MacKinnon then proposes alternative de-consumer paths forward, showing how a less consumptive society could function.
Animal, Vegetable, Junk, an in-depth analysis from New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman on how we arrived at our current food system (particularly in the U.S.), and why said system is not designed to improve the health of us or the planet.
What have you liked - or felt enlightened by - reading recently? Let me know!
> Monthly Events Roundup!
📆 5 Consumer Goods x Climate Events:
Browse 20+ upcoming consumer x climate events, and submit yours.
8th August - A Sustainable Unicorn: A conversation with Canva's Head of Sustainability, Mike Williams
Organisers: Greenhouse
Location: Greenhouse Tech Hub, Sydney
13th August - Webinar: How to talk about consumption without talking about consumption
Organisers: ReLondon
Location: Virtual
5th September - Zero Waste Industry Party
Organisers: Volcano Coffee Works
Location: London
14th September - Fashion Forward: Exclusive Networking Event During NYFW
Organisers: Corii Burns
Location: New York
20th September - Restaurants and Farms are the Key Solutions to the Climate Crisis
Organisers: Food Tank and the James Beard Foundation
Location: New York
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