A few years ago, sustainability might have focused on mitigating adverse environmental impacts, but today’s emerging brands put sustainability at the core, with products that make a net positive impact on issues like climate, waste and building a more sustainable food system. Many leading companies are now turning to data-driven insights to ensure their supply chain, retail, marketing and sales insights are aligned in support of their sustainability goals.

The data required, however, is often in disparate sources, and companies face challenges in finding actionable insights needed to quickly adjust production volumes, or transportation and logistics plans to move products to where they are needed. 

To address these obstacles, Crisp, the open-data platform for the consumer packaged goods industry, is creating end-to-end supply chain processes that provide CPG brands with visibility into upstream and downstream supply chain partner data to understand real-time consumer behavior and make near-immediate supply chain decisions to reduce waste and improve profitability.

Here are three CPG brands that have partnered with Crisp to inform data-driven strategies across their marketing channels and retail locations while ensuring they meet their sustainability goals and missions: 

Moonshot Snacks takes a bite out of climate change

Moonshot snacks is a pioneer in the “climate-friendly” food movement. Moonshot’s tasty cracker line is made with stone-milled artisan wheat from a farm two miles from its factory along with other organic, non-GMO ingredients. It is a mission-driven company by design, working to create a net positive impact on humans and the planet through sustainable snacking. As Marketing Director Hayley Brown said, “It’s easy to talk the talk, but for us, climate-friendly eating is more than an idea: it’s our reason for being.” 

To start, Moonshot works with regenerative farmers – farmers who use practices that capture carbon and store it in the soil. By storing carbon in the growing process, the wheat in Moonshot crackers is carbon-negative. From there, Moonshot looks at every area of its business, including tracking and reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with operations and materials, and purchasing more offsets than its estimated emissions to ensure a net-positive climate impact.

Moonshot uses data regularly to achieve its goals. In fact, it founded a sister company, Planet FWD, which helps brands measure, reduce and offset emissions.

The Urgent Company makes tasty treats animal-free

The Urgent Company uses innovative technology to change the way food is made. Its portfolio of brands includes Cool Haus dairy-free ice cream, Brave Robot ice cream, Modern Kitchen cream cheese, and California Performance Co, an animal-free whey protein.

The Urgent Company’s strategy is to create products that are Earth-friendly without compromising the consumer experience. As Amanda Odmark, senior communications manager, said, “We’re excited for the years ahead, when sustainable, innovative products made through technology are so commonplace that they’re widely accessible to all – that’s where the real, measurable climate impact will happen.” To quantify its impact, the company recently completed an ISO-certified life cycle assessment of Brave Robot’s ice cream, which showed the brand reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 72%, non-renewable energy usage by 60%, and blue water consumption by 23%, compared to conventional dairy ice creams.

As a technology-centered organization, The Urgent Company is no stranger to data. “Data plays a huge role in our sustainability strategy, Odmark said. “We’re grateful to have a partner platform like Crisp that is also led by sustainability with the mission of solving global food waste through data. Harnessing insights to better understand purchase drivers, track velocity, and measure sales not only helps us meet our own goals, but it also helps to reduce food waste along the way – a win for us and for the planet.”

Repurpose imagines a world without plastic

Repurpose is tackling the world’s plastic problem, one product at a time. The brand makes non-toxic, compostable household products including utensils, kitchen bags and paper towels using upcycled and renewable materials. Repurpose’s approach to sustainability is to make responsible choices easy and convenient for the consumer. “We believe sustainability should be accessible, and this philosophy has always guided our growth path,” Sales Director Gwen Richardson said. The brand also serves to educate customers on the benefits of cutting plastic use with facts such as the average human ingests a credit card’s worth of microplastics every week.

With the sustainability piece in place, Repurpose uses data to expand its reach as much as possible. “Data helps us see where we can make the most change,” Richardson said. “When we see what the market demands, and we can make it greener, we see that as our best way to impact the planet in a positive way.”