For green industries, a silver lining to the economic slump
Submitted by Shannon on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 19:15.
The economic downturn has the potential to hurt both large and small green companies. Often considered a luxury market, green goods producers may see their sales fall like other up-market items. However, companies that 'go green' by focusing on energy savings, sustainable sourcing, and packaging redesign, may both save money and still appeal to cash-strapped, eco-minded consumers.
According to a new Forbes report, a variety of companies have invested in CSR initiatives that are only marginally costly but serve to bring in big business. For example, Grossman Marketing Group recently started purchasing renewable energy credits from two California wind farms. While the credits increased Grossman's energy bill by 5%, the move attracted such eco-friendly, public-facing corporations as Google and Green Mountain Coffee. As a result, Grossman's sales rose 20% in 2007.
With analysts predicting some consumer goods companies to lose as much as half of their revenues within the next ten years, a new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and A.T. Kearney offers some poignant predictions and advice (write-up from Sustainable Life Media). The report explains the possibility of 'ecoflation' scenarios in which a combination of environmental trends and policy developments drive commodities prices either drastically up or down. For CPG companies dependent on world commodities such as natural gas, grains, soy, sugar, oil, etc., a delicate long-term strategy is the best defense against economic instability.
In the face of economic hardship, however, lie opportunities for profitable eco-innovation. For example, companies currently dependent on input commodities can look to re-design products, integrate their supply chains, and prioritize local - over global - sourcing.
According to a new Forbes report, a variety of companies have invested in CSR initiatives that are only marginally costly but serve to bring in big business. For example, Grossman Marketing Group recently started purchasing renewable energy credits from two California wind farms. While the credits increased Grossman's energy bill by 5%, the move attracted such eco-friendly, public-facing corporations as Google and Green Mountain Coffee. As a result, Grossman's sales rose 20% in 2007.
With analysts predicting some consumer goods companies to lose as much as half of their revenues within the next ten years, a new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and A.T. Kearney offers some poignant predictions and advice (write-up from Sustainable Life Media). The report explains the possibility of 'ecoflation' scenarios in which a combination of environmental trends and policy developments drive commodities prices either drastically up or down. For CPG companies dependent on world commodities such as natural gas, grains, soy, sugar, oil, etc., a delicate long-term strategy is the best defense against economic instability.
In the face of economic hardship, however, lie opportunities for profitable eco-innovation. For example, companies currently dependent on input commodities can look to re-design products, integrate their supply chains, and prioritize local - over global - sourcing.
