The 4C Retail and Consumer Community team had a blast of a day yesterday at Bounce bar in London – it was our first real face to face get together post-covid and it did not disappoint!
The theme for the day was “Delivering sustainable value for our clients” led brilliantly by Tanya Popeau – 4C’s new head of sustainability and an industry leading figure in this field.
We worked through a number of hypothetical case studies using the 4C Prosperity Framework focussed on delivering sustainable value through Ethical, Environmental and Economic drivers. Applying these drivers to FMCG suppliers, leading hospitality brands and a leading retailer – it was incredibly revealing to see the pure breadth and range of opportunity and solutions that exist in these sectors that would help produce a more sustainable footprint.
There were many interesting discussion points focussing on people, the impact on profit and the short term “pains” compared to the longer-term gains.
We also had some excellent guest speakers – Nadia Shkrabko from Diageo discussed their incredibly impressive plans to reduce the carbon impact of glass – a key component in many of their drinks propositions! A hugely complex project involving government support (on hydrogen pricing), huge build costs for a new state of the art factory in the UK and many internal and external stakeholders from procurement to marketing, many with antagonistic objectives and motives.
We now partner with the BRC and it was great to learn more about how we can access their huge depth of revealing insights and trends. We talked about shop price inflation – now at a staggering 8.4% in February – up from 8% in January which as an ex-supermarket buyer and commercial director, I know of the pure pain and problems that this presents each and every day for customers and both buyers and suppliers alike – it is a time for real collaboration and plans that work for both with innovative solutions.
I came away from the day – after a few drinks and several games of table tennis – energised! The Retail and Consumer sector at 4C is a brilliant place to work – the passion around the room for product was obvious and with that the deep understanding of how important customers are in any work we do. The days of simple cost removal / supplier negotiation programmes are over and I felt real energy from the team to go out and delight and support our clients armed with a slightly bigger toolkit!.
To find out how we can help you and your organisation navigate the transition towards Net Zero and gain visibility on recent regulatory changes, please contact Andrew Davidson (Head of Retail), Tanya Popeau (Head of Sustainability) or Gavin Bowen-Ashwin (Head of Retail & Consumer) at 4C Associates.
