There are so many different ways of building an innovative, robust, responsible company, but I'm not sure any of them happen quickly. This is the case at VEJA, whose mission, purpose and values have guided every micro decision the company makes for the last 18 years: * Complete transparency in supply chain, right back to the cotton field and the rubber tree * Fair wages, fair trade. Even if that means paying double the market price. * If you don't like whats on the market, make it yourself (the business plans to open a recycling plant in a Brazilian favela next year) * Don't wait for the customer to ask - do what you think is right and see if the customer comes, (they have 14 cobbler studios repairing shoes worldwide and are planning more. This is not a revenue play but what they identified as the first step in circularity for the business). VEJA have been pursuing this path since 2005 by diverting marketing and advertising money into materials and labour. I sat down with co founder SEBASTIEN KOPP to hear how they did it - and how the Brazilian government gave them access to a satellite system which is the only way to track deforestation. Rather than acting like 'neocolonialists' the rubber farmers use the information to run their own co-operative. It's a really impressive company with lots more to come. Who else stacks up so well in this space? https://lnkd.in/e_bhdWmt
Co-founder SEBASTIEN KOPP and the 600 people that work for his purpose driven company, VEJA are the most inspiring and forward thinking of today. They’ve taken their time to build their business over the last 18 years, as they’ve been genuinely curious and want to know who they are working with, from the rubber tappers in the Amazon, through to small organic cotton farmers and now creating their own recycling business in a favela in Brazil. Thank-you Tiffanie Darke for sharing your investigative findings. As for another company that’s as transparent as Veja…. it’s a tricky one…. Another French brand, denim label 1083 ??
Very interesting. We still of course own far too many pairs of shoes and clothes but assuming you need trainers/ sneakers they’d be my go to brand. Just saw they do running shoes which I didn’t know about. I’d be interested to know exactly what “reducing marketing” spend meant. Looks predominantly like reducing paid ad spend as all companies need to a marketing strategy to scale. It’s more than advertising. Genuinely interested.
Great share Tiffanie Darke. Fantastic to hear VEJA is now turning their attention to reducing waste and extending the life of the product they have already made. As an owner of heavily worn VEJAs (resoled by my local cobbler), I would love to see their repair concept extend beyond their own stores. And unsurprising to anyone who knows me or Tern Eco, I’d also be very excited to see them run a take back and recycling program for shoes that are beyond repair.
Thank you for sharing, Tiffanie Darke. It's a really impressive story. I wrote about VEJA in my book Business Ethics, 1st edition and now in 2nd edition. I always talk about it to students as an excellent example of ethical business. For me, it is one of the few ethical companies undertaking all these activities on its initiative rather than being forced to do so by law or any other regulation. VEJA can be a role model for all companies obligated to implement ESG criteria.
"Don't wait for the customer to ask - do what you think is right and see if the customer comes". It would be great to see more companies doing this, and thereby acknowledging their role in driving demand.
Wow, 18 years! I had no idea they had been going for so long, Incredible 🙌
Founder at Fit for Purpose Consultancy Ltd
9moAgreed, Veja does an outstanding job on social equity and transparency in supply chain, outperforming many others in their sector with their authentic committed approach. But I would love to see them doing much more on the sustainable materials front, particularly in trialling and investing in more natural plant based fibres instead of using animal or plastic based fibres. We all know that the creation /fuelling of a secondary market for plastic bottles only fuels the growth of virgin plastic production in the long run, so it would be great to see Veja applying their ethical smarts to some of the promising but nascent plant based fibres in the future. Paul Foulkes-Arellano is the key authority on this topic.