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The Natural List – How 'going green' can reward people and the planet
HowGood helps brands evaluate environmental impact, identify opportunities in sustainability and develop strategies to support consumer and planetary health. Listen in.
New Hope Network staff
May 17, 2024
35 Min Listen
Whether on the shelves of your favorite neighborhood retailer or on the menu at popular restaurants like Chipotle, consumers are “seeing green” in more places than ever—and no, we don’t mean green with envy!
In this episode of The Natural List, co-host Adrienne Smith is joined by HowGood’s SVP of Growth and Innovation Rachel Calomeni and Director of Retail Growth and Innovation Lauren Porter to explore the history of HowGood, success stories and sustainability frameworks adopted by companies in the food system and methods used by CPG brands and retailers to present product sustainability information to consumers.
Why is this important? Calomeni and Porter explain that 75% of millennials are changing their purchasing habits based on environmental factors. Additionally, consumers are willing to pay about 30% more for products marketed with sustainability data and attributes.
Tune in to learn about the ROI of a solid sustainability strategy, why carbon dioxide (CO2) emission ratings are the nutritional data of 2024 and how simple ingredient swaps can reduce one family’s meatloaf from 19.7kg CO2 down to around 10-12kg CO2.
In this episode:
1:50 – Our guest is all about “keeping it green.”
2:10 – What is HowGood?
4:35 – Welcome to our guests Rachel Calomeni and Lauren Porter!
4:55 – The evolution of HowGood.
9:00 – Making a difference throughout the entire CPG supply chain
10:50 – Chipotle’s success story and additional frameworks.
14:55 – Ways retailers are conveying sustainability messaging to consumers.
17:00 – Building trust on the shelf and social media.
20:20 – Meatloaf ingredient swap!
23:10 – Carbon calculations and the importance of getting it right.
26:35 – Looking beyond carbon.
28:05 – It's time for The List with Jessica and Adrienne!
In this special edition of The List, we’re exploring brands with the best sustainability impact estimates on Beacon Discovery, New Hope Network's discovery and engagement platform for natural products brands and retailers. Brands featured in this episode (with their sustainability impact score): Rise Brewing Co’s Oat Milk Nitro Cold Brew Latte (55), Jasberry’s Ready-to-Eat Organic Superfood Rice (66), Liviva’s Edamame Fetuccine (75), Eden Foods’ Organic Pinto Beans (75) and Seasir’s Organic Tamari Soy Sauce (77).
Enjoy this new episode here and wherever you listen to your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple and Google podcasts.
Interested in being a guest on The Natural List? Email us at [email protected].
Our guests
Rachel Calomeni, SVP Growth and Innovation
HowGood
Rachel Calomeni is the SVP, Growth & Innovation at HowGood, the world’s largest product sustainability database. HowGood’s platform helps brands measure their environmental and social impact, as well as identify opportunities to improve sourcing practices to create products that are better for our planet. Rachel has 25 years’ experience working in or alongside consumer goods companies, such as Procter & Gamble and Boehringer Ingelheim, and holds marketing and law degrees from Western Sydney University in Penrith, Australia, and an MBA from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Her passion for preserving our planet stems from her childhood, as she grew up in the picturesque Blue Mountains in Australia, a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site.
Lauren Porter, Director of Retail Growth and Innovation
HowGood
Lauren Porter, director of retail growth and innovation at HowGood, shares insights on the mounting pressure in our food system to have transparent accountability in sustainability impact. Based on years of experience working with brands, retailers and food tech, Lauren will introduce a framework for retailers to move from "compliance" to "comprehensive value" in sustainability standards. Lauren has led teams that support retailers such as Whole Foods Market, Ahold Delhaize and Walmart in defining sourcing standards and product attribute requirements. She lives in West Texas where her family has ranched for four generations. Ask her which state in the U.S. has the lowest carbon footprint for beef.
Your hosts
About Jessica Rubino
Jessica Rubino is a natural products industry expert and content strategist with more than 15 years experience in media, events and natural products. As New Hope Network’s vice president of content, Jessica oversees digital and print content, conference programming and branded content for CPGs, retailers, investors and service providers. Jessica is passionate about using innovation as a force for good and leveraging content to spark the changes we want to see in the world.
About Adrienne Smith
Adrienne Smith is the director of content for newhope.com and the editor-in-chief of Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine where she helps ideate and produce content for natural products retailers, brands and entrepreneurs. Before coming to New Hope Network, she spent nearly two decades writing about food and beverage products and trends for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Trade in Madrid, Spain, as well as for publications including the International Herald Tribune/New York Times and El País.
About the Author(s)
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