Insights, perspectives and thinking from the Mangrove team - on growth, Innovation, Strategy and the world of business.
Driving sustainability in big companies requires courage – but not just the bold, headline-grabbing kind. Nick Pye raises a glass to the front-line sustainability practitioners whose acts of ‘little c’ courage are quietly propelling progress every single day.
Going for B Corp status is exposing – even with nothing to hide. It got us thinking about transparency: admirable, yes, but is it necessary? We think authenticity is the ultimate currency, and how a business chooses to respond is a decision only they can make.
When Mangrove gained B Corp certification in 2022, the news was largely met with blank faces. Has awareness really moved since then? Justin Wright looks at three lessons B Corp could learn from Red Tractor to hit the mainstream tipping point.
Not all sustainability activities are born equal – some drive real impact, others make for a great brand story, and a precious few do both. Nick Pye explains how to prioritise your sustainability initiatives when resources are under pressure.
In the race to recruit sustainability talent, ambitious middle managers are signing up for short courses and immediately rebranding themselves as experts. Nick Pye explains why genuine sustainability expertise is born of on-the-job experience – and why confusing the two can be disastrous.
Most mainstream audiences switch off when faced with doom-and-gloom sustainability messaging. But what if there’s a more light-hearted way in? The folks behind Liquid Death certainly think so – and their approach holds a great lesson for any brand wanting to make sustainability genuinely engaging.
Is the sustainability sheen wearing off? COP 28 passed with little fanfare, ESG-focused investors are pulling back, and consumers are refusing to pay more for sustainable products. Justin Wright asks whether we’ve slipped into the trough of disillusionment – and why a ‘wait and see’ approach would be the worst possible response.
Across many sectors, we’re seeing a shift from sustainability start-up to scale-up – and it comes with new challenges. Nick Pye reflects on the growing pains of scaling sustainability, and the three interventions that are helping businesses navigate the transition.
Bolt Threads has paused its mycelium leather. Beyond Meat is down 92%. Oatly has lost 90% of its valuation. Nick Pye asks why sustainable substitutes are struggling to cross the chasm from early adopters to the mainstream – and what it will take to change that.
Sustainability creates specific and difficult tensions for manufacturing and industrial businesses. Nick Pye shares five key pressures Mangrove is seeing on the front line, from short-term commitment versus long-term investment to the performance gap that’s holding back real impact.
How much time do we spend chasing carbon reduction whilst ignoring everything else? Carbon Tunnel Vision is a timely reminder that carbon, whilst critically important, is only one dimension of the sustainability challenge.
More and more businesses are commissioning separate growth strategies and sustainability strategies. Nick Pye argues this makes no sense – and that a single, connected view of strategy is the only way to stop financial urgency crowding out sustainability progress.
