About faith and some alcohol
Welcome to "nouveau monde", your "nouveau genre" (see, we even create new words) newsletter to better understand how to make the world better through the lens of retail. This is #47.
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Le menu du jour at nouveau monde is about.. yes, you read it well, faith and alcohol. Not in the same story, of course.
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Today's newsletter is 543 words, a 3-minutes read.
Sustainability. Hips... Sure thing!
by Phil
Welcome to the VentureFuel Visionaries. Fasten your seat belt (and prepare your Airpods).
I’ve been subscribing to a bunch of newsletter since I started this scouting tech job. Somehow 20 years soon, speaking about the startup ecosystem I was early engaged with. It’s a bit traffic for your mailbox, but it worths it.
And I saw this one, a few days ago: “Distilling the Future of Rum & Sustainability Innovation”. Rum and sustainability, quite an unexpected combo, that really pleased me because I must admit it’s one of my favorite liquor. Let’s go then.
Silvia Santiago, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, and Maestra Ronera, Master Blender at Destilería Serrallés to talk about her career, and the role of innovation at Serrallés.
Anchored by a lifelong curiosity and love of learning, she shares her point of view on how to preserve time-honored tradition while 'shaking the tree,' to drive change and the human side of innovation.
Destilería Serrallés is best known for its Don Q rum brand. Serrallés is Puerto Rico's oldest family-owned company. Don Q is one of the most environmentally sustainable distilleries in the region, if not the world. The distillery has eliminated the dumping of wastewater into the ocean, which is, unfortunately, a common practice for rum distilleries in the Caribbean. Don Q rum is a proud partner of the Surfrider Foundation and supports efforts that promote clean and healthy ocean environments.
Listen to the Apple’s podcast here
Bonus:
It’s about a podcast with LanzaTech’s Chief Sustainability Officer Freya Burton and AB InBev's Global VP of Sustainability Andre Fourie (“Save water, drink beer is on his profile picture on Linkedin).
You know AB InBev and their portfolio that comprises over 500 beer brands and includes global brands Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, and numerous multi-country brands, I’m pretty sure.
LanzaTech (“Welcome to the post-pollution future”, they say) is a market-leading innovator in carbon capture & transformation. They have invented a technology that turns pollution into valuable raw material commodities, recycling a "liability" into practical and sustainable new products.
Listen to the Apple’s podcast here
Faithful Man
by Anthony
Faith in Nature, a sustainable beauty company, created back in 1974, has recently decided to include (Mother) Nature in its board of Directors.
Communication coup ? Greenwashing ? It could be so but if we look a little bit deeper, it could be a smart initiative.
We all know how things work in a board : people defend shareholders’ interests, trying to have a long term view while still having a focus on the valuation, or the interests of the company represented by the advisor…
So, Faith in Nature decided to legally add Nature in its board, as said in its press release :
The brand has worked with leading environmental and corporate lawyers to turn an idea into reality and have now officially amended their company constitution to include Nature as a director, with all the same voting rights as any other company director.
It could appear to be a little demagogic but, if well executed, could be a game changer in companies as we dramatically need to take biodiversity’s needs in every decision we take nowadays.
And it seems that Faith in Nature has taken this new initiative seriously, onboarding lawyers in their adventure to make sure it is legally secured.
Not convinced ? Have a look at this video or at the dedicated page on Faith in Nature’s website and make your decision.
Even if it is well packed, I really believe this could be a smart initiative to take in all the boards. Time to give nature its voice back.
Update on Patagonia
I guess you read our last week news. If not, one of the story was about Patagonia’s founder. “Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children have transferred their ownership of Patagonia, valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization.
Sort of beauty full story.
“The Chouinard family’s block of voting stock (2% of all shares) will be donated to a new vehicle called the Patagonia Purpose Trust. The trust was formed explicitly for this purpose, and is made up of a panel of family members and “their closest advisers,” the Times details. This group will continue to play a role in approving the company’s big decisions and will oversee the donation of its profits to organizations fighting the climate crisis. The rest of the Chouinard family’s shares are going to the newly formed Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit that “will use every dollar received to fight the environmental crisis, protect nature and biodiversity, and support thriving communities, as quickly as possible.”
Purpose Trust? There’s been a lot of misinformation, and a group of experts will talk about it tomorrow 1:00PM - 2:00PM Eastern time to understand the mechanism of the Perpetual Purpose Trusts. This ain’t new. You can also read this article from GQ.
As beautiful as it seems, you won’t probably see this happening much. “Expecting businesses to do so would relieve government of its responsibility to set different rules to protect the environment and address climate change. I also agree with David Gelles, the New York Times reporter who broke the story about Patagonia’s new governance structure. As Gelles noted in a Vox interview, Chouinard’s family is “one of one.” says The Conversation in a conclusion.
Bonus track by Anthony
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