In Patagonia We Trust…
The seminal ‘Let My People Go Surfing’ has possibly been lauded more times than Start with Why! To paraphrase, Culture, Mission and Purpose is the glue that binds a business together and propels it forward. Patagonia’s glue has meant it has led on ESG for years as well as being integral to the creation of a whole new market category into which customers, resources and money can flow, all hail the rise of conscientious consumerism.
It was on a recent visit to Patagonia, that I realised something else, I couldn’t see a carbon label anywhere and truth be told I thought thank god! Size, colour and price were the only things I needed to think about at that moment.
Why not a label?
Patagonia have developed a deep level of trust. This doesn’t mean that every item on the rails is as eco-friendly as the next, how could it be? However, my assumption is that the same level of care and attention to sourcing and minimising the environmental impact of every item would be similar.
Patagonia wants me to feel good about spending my money with them irrespective of their relative CO2 footprints and when you are spending £150 on a fleece this seems reasonable.
Finally and most importantly, it’s at the operational level that most businesses can materially move the dial on ESG and specifically carbon reduction. It's highly likely that in the coming years, a quantitative carbon reduction plan will need to form part of most organisational strategies.
And so to food. As operators we know all too well that there is a real chasm between intent and action. All our customers want the low carbon, low calorie option until…..they opened the menu….
It might be a Burger, the Thai fish cakes or the Charred cauliflower with tahini & pomegranate (a la Josh Katz). At the moment of truth, the customer wants what the customer wants and it’s the operator's primary job to make the experience as joyous and memorable as possible.
Under the hood however, it’s increasingly becoming the operator's job to be making informed decisions around which ingredients to use and herein lies the game changing opportunity to drive down carbon.
We think the way to get there isn’t by zooming in but by zooming out, by seeing what the specific carbon drivers are for your business and then focusing on those ingredients from a carbon reduction perspective. This might mean comparing Beef from farm A against farm B, introducing new ingredients into the dish via blending (Blended burgers are coming @Fable) or perhaps switching ingredients completely with a comparable product (think Salmon for Trout).
So let your people go….for whatever they want to go for because that’s what they come to you for and while they spend their money with you, it’s your job to navigate your business towards a low carbon future.
