Introduction
Founded in 2006, Vegware is an Edinburgh-based food packaging company like no other. They specialise in certified compostable ”Packaging made from plants”. With their pre-sales advice and market education, followed by their after-sales support with the Close the Loop service, their passion is to maximise food packaging becoming compost. They have shelves of industry awards, were recognised with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, and continue to drive change in the packaging industry.
Beyond all, Vegware values trust with its customers and strives to be clear, transparent, and honest in its claims about its products and performance. This continues following its incorporation into the Novolex family of Eco Products in 2021.
Beginnings
Beyond Green began working with the Vegware team in 2013 to help them become certified to ISO14001 and ISO9001 for Environment and Quality Management. For a fast-growing company, documenting a process that was constantly evolving as they expanded the team, markets, and processes was challenging. Working together, being robust while pragmatic, we got there and with continued growth, they have maintained their certification since 2015. As the team became more confident and comfortable with ISO compliance requirements, Beyond Green’s role evolved into becoming their trusted partner for their half-yearly environmental compliance audits.
Our internal audits ensured Vegware went beyond the minimal compliance requirements in ISO 14001 to identify compliance risks and opportunities to improve efficiency and drive continual improvement. The audit process, though challenging, involves open feedback and coaching to ensure its outcomes align with Vegware’s ambition to always do better.
Now
Operating in UK and global markets, especially across Europe, Vegware is impacted by legislators’ and regulators’ increased focus on the packaging industry and the scrutiny of Green Claims in the UK and EU.
Reflecting on this in 2024, we expanded the depth and breadth of our internal compliance audit of Vegware’s market and customer communication to evaluate compliance against the 13 aspects of the Green Claims Code (GCC). Drawing on our expertise in non-financial assurance, we seek robust evidence to corroborate claims, have an objective and critical mindset and engage in collaborative conversations with Vegware’s Head of Marketing. Why this approach? It allows us to capture the big picture perspective to spot omissions, hone in on key phrases and detailed evidence, and explore and stress test solutions.
An example is questioning the phrase “sustainably sourced” – What does this mean to Vegware’s end users?
Sustainably is an ambiguous and nebulous term, mixed up with a range of concepts: environmentally friendly, responsibly sourced, low-carbon, green products, the list goes on. Through our open conversation, the Head of Marketing, with the perfect marketing mindset, responded “ Well let’s ask our customers across our community what they think!”
Future
This case study is an example of their transparency in ensuring that they continually raise the bar in their industry to ensure the customers get what is said on the tin. Vegware has always invested time and resources in educating their market on the pitfalls and solutions for compostable packaging, and now they have upped the ante with their Webinar Series, “Transparency Talks” with one webinar taking on Green Claims, covering the Green Claims issues: greenwashing, green hushing, etc.
Here is what Vegware had to say about our work together:
Working with Beyond Green is invaluable in keeping us on the right track with our communications. They help us ensure we’re using clear, transparent language and avoid making bold claims that can’t be backed up. Their guidance gives us confidence that we’re communicating responsibly and effectively. I always enjoy our sessions as they are insightful, practical and a real asset to our work at Vegware.” – Kelly Falconer, Head of Marketing, Vegware
As for Beyond Green, we will continue to adapt our compliance approach to focus on the key risks, combat complacency by objectively questioning the information in the context Vegware operates in, and openly explore issues to ensure our support helps Vegware in its quest for transparency.
Looking for more real business examples of our work? You can find our other case studies here.