Awards News – Sustainable Business Award winners lead the way in protecting people and planet

Source: Sustainable Business Network (SBN)

The Sustainable Business Network (SBN) has announced the winners of the 20th Sustainable Business Awards at an annual ceremony this evening.

The urgency of sustainability issues has never been more pressing. This was highlighted by the UN Climate Conference (COP27) taking place earlier this month, against a backdrop of extreme weather events, an energy crisis and scientific data reiterating the world is not doing enough to tackle carbon emissions and protect the future of our planet.

SBN has been at the forefront of networking and advocacy to help businesses become more environmentally friendly since it was founded 20 years ago. It runs the annual Sustainable Business Awards to recognise the country’s leading business sustainability heroes.

Karma Drinks is the winner of the Supreme Transforming Aotearoa New Zealand Award for 2022.

The local organic drink manufacturer first won the Social Impactor category, before taking the top prize ahead of the other two finalists – Ecotricity and McCain NZ’s Timaru Plant.

Karma Drinks was born from an idea on Piha Beach, where three friends first thought of forming a company to make ‘Karma Cola’ out of ingredients that were good for the land, good for the growers and good for consumers.

To hold themselves accountable to their mission to produce the world’s most ethical soft drink, they established The Karma Foundation. 1% of revenue from every Karma Drink goes to the cola nut growers and communities in Sierra Leone. The foundation guarantees the funds raised help drive economic and social independence.

Since 2012, more than 43 million Karma Drinks have been sold. This has enabled three bridges to be built, 135 girls sent to school and eight teachers funded, enabling education for a further 614 children in three newly build classrooms. The company has also supported farmers to revive forest farms and provided seed funding for 33 local entrepreneurs. These repaid loans have been distributed to 26 new entrepreneurs. Three villages have set up rice and groundnut seed banks, three more have rice mills, one has a guesthouse and four have new community meeting spaces.

The judges commented that “sustainability IS Karma Drinks’ core business” and the company has “a genuine depth of integrity and sincerity throughout operations.”

They noted the company exemplifies what a ‘value chain’ can be – creating real social value for communities and environmental value for the earth, all the while creating a valuable product. It was acknowledged for its kaupapa of ‘delivering trade, not aid’.

A finalist for the supreme award and winner of the Communicating for Impact category is Ecotricity. Since January 2022, this company has been on a mission to educate Kiwis about Electric Vehicles (EVs). Staff test drive every EV that comes into Aotearoa New Zealand and provide video reviews and information on the company’s dedicated YouTube channel. This  helps buyers make informed decisions and removes any fear about the switch to EVs.

Also a finalist for the supreme award and winner of the Climate Action Leader category is food manufacturer, McCain NZ’s Timaru Plant. Since 2020 McCain has undertaken new initiatives and innovative technologies to reduce energy use to identify ways the company could be more energy efficient and use less carbon. The company has carried out heat recovery and boiler conversion projects which have resulted in a carbon reduction of 34,517 tonnes.

Rachel Brown ONZM, Sustainable Business Network CEO and Founder, said, “Given the last two years and the uncertain times we are in, it’s more important than ever to celebrate the sustainability achievements of organisations and individuals. The issues facing our planet are now at crisis level.

“All the finalists deserve a massive round of applause for continuing with this vital work, particularly in the face of future uncertainty.

“Collectively, the nine winners are leading the way and it was great to see such diversity of action among them – including impact from organisations focusing on local issues as well as the outstanding work of purpose-led Karma Drinks, which are now recognised as a leader on the global stage. Amongst this variety were the common threads of action on climate change and a focus on sustainability throughout the chain. Congratulations to them all!”

Insurance company NZI is the Principal Partner in the awards. Executive GM, Garry Taylor said, “our latest Wild Weather Tracker reveals 69% of New Zealanders are concerned about the impacts of climate change, but only 40% have taken action to prepare in the past six months.

“The role businesses play in minimising impacts and driving change becomes more critical every year.

“All our winners and finalists are perfect examples of the change we need to see in our communities to contribute to a more sustainable New Zealand, and they should be incredibly proud of their efforts.”

Sustainable Business Awards 2022

Winners

2022 Sustainable Business Awards – Winners’ stories

Karma Drinks – Supreme Award, Transforming New Zealand, plus Social Impactor

Karma Drinks is a small company with a big mission. It aims to connect consumers with farmers and growers in a way that respects everyone and everything involved.

The Karma Foundation was founded to create the world’s most ethical soft drink. 1% of revenue from each of the organic, Fairtrade fizzies goes back to the Foundation, which, in turn, supports the Sierra Leone communities that grow the ingredients.

Funding allocation is managed by the communities themselves. It goes towards life-changing projects spanning governance and accountability, health and wellbeing, sustainability, infrastructure, local enterprise, and sustainable livelihoods and education.

Since 2012, more than 43 million Karma Drinks have been sold. This has enabled three bridges to be built, 135 girls sent to school, and eight teachers funded, enabling education for a further 614 children in three newly built classrooms.

Karma Drinks has supported farmers to revive forest farms and provided seed funding for 33 local entrepreneurs. These repaid loans have been distributed to 26 new entrepreneurs. Three villages have set up rice and groundnut seed banks, three more have rice mills, one has a guesthouse and four have new community meeting spaces.

Trees that Count – Regenerating Nature

Trees That Count is an environmental programme on a mission to see millions of native trees planted in Aotearoa New Zealand. Managed by the Project Crimson Trust, the aim is to fight climate change, strengthen threatened biodiversity and grow healthier communities.

Trees That Count has developed the country’s only online native tree marketplace enabling anyone to fund or gift native trees. This support is then matched to planting groups around the country supporting the restoration, regeneration and protection of Aotearoa New Zealand’s native biodiversity.

In April 2022, Trees That Count reached an important milestone of one million native trees funded. The initiative has supported 1,025 planting projects from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South, across a range of land and ownership types.

The initiative has demonstrated it can deliver and bring communities, planters and funders together. The mission now is to use the proven digital and social infrastructure to connect investors with native planting projects at scale.

Hōhepa Hawkes Bay – Food for Good

Hōhepa is a charitable trust providing residential care, education, vocational opportunities and day programmes for people with significant intellectual and developmental challenges.

Hōhepa’s dedication to sustainability is evident in all facets of its business. From electric vehicles and solar electricity, to glass bottles for biodynamic milk and compostable wrapping for its cheeses. Hōhepa’s biodynamic farm provides employment, education, high quality food for consumption and the opportunity to be involved in food production.

Having adopted Dr Rudolph Steiner’s organic land management and food production principles, Hōhepa’s dairy and horticultural production has operated under regenerative farming practices for six decades. With internationally recognised Demeter certification, Hōhepa has the oldest biodynamic farm in New Zealand.

Steiner’s farming principles, proposed in the 1920s, strive for harmony and sustainability in supporting soil, plants and animal health. Only naturally occurring soil supplements are used, with an emphasis on natural, organically generated fertilisers. The nutrient-rich food grown on the Hōhepa farm is valued by loyal customers and the people Hōhepa supports. The life expectancy of the Hōhepa community exceeds international norms which is attributed to high quality food and care in the community.

Ports of Auckland & Damen Shipyard – Outstanding Collaboration

When Ports of Auckland began looking for a new tugboat, low emissions technology was not yet available. A fully electric tugboat was considered an outrageous idea by most shipbuilders, except Damen Shipyards Gorinchem.

Damen Shipyards, located in the Netherlands, designs and produces harbour tugboats. The company is on a mission to become the most sustainable ship builder in the world.

In 2019 Ports of Auckland and Damen Shipyards became partners with the goal of bringing the first fully electric, zero emission tugboat into operation. And in 2022 Sparky, named by public vote in Auckland, arrived in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Sparky is the world’s first full sized, ship-handling electric tugboat. Sparky will move cargo ships in and out of the harbour, keeping Auckland’s freight moving, without emissions.

It is estimated that Sparky will save the port around 200,000 litres of diesel a year. This is around 465 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, and more than 11 thousand tonnes over Sparky’s expected lifespan.

McCain NZ Timaru Plant – Climate Action Leader

As the world’s leading producer of prepared potato and appetizer products, McCain Foods has recognised the need to reduce its impact on the global food system.

In 2019 McCain introduced a global purpose to make ‘planet friendly food’. This includes a series of commitments to reduce carbon emissions, optimise resource efficiency in operations, enabling sustainable water usage and moving towards zero waste to landfill.

McCain worked in collaboration with EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) to develop an Energy Transition Accelerator programme for its Timaru plant. The main objective was to provide a preliminary indication of energy efficiency and energy-related carbon reduction opportunities. The Energy Transition Accelerator programme has helped McCain Timaru to reduce its process heat demand and hence switch its boiler fuel to renewables.

McCain employed an energy graduate, with support from EECA, to identify energy efficiency and carbon reduction initiatives.

Since 2020 McCain has undertaken new initiatives and innovative technologies to reduce energy use. These include heat recovery and boiler conversion projects. Together, they have resulted in a carbon reduction of 34,517 tonnes.

All Heart NZ – Going Circular

All Heart NZ partners with corporates to redirect and repurpose their redundant and unwanted items. In five years of operation, All Heart has collected 4,000 tonnes of corporate waste and diverted 94% from landfill and to community good. This represents more than $10 million of funds and 448 different communities supported.

An example of work is removing logos from Auckland Transport corporate uniforms. This creates living wage labour and enables the uniforms to be sold, creating further funds for employment and community support. In addition, a large number of shell jackets from this corporate were recently donated to a local school in Northland and are being offered to children in the Kaikohe community free of charge to help keep tamariki warm in winter.

The organisation also redirected 26.8 tonnes of redundant corporate furniture and furnishing from corporate lawyer’s offices to the community.

In August 2019, All Heart opened new headquarters in Manukau, South Auckland. The mission was to create a circular economy plant that promoted opportunities for employment, training and volunteering whilst diverting resources from landfill. In May 2021, an All Heart store in Kaikohe was opened, based on a similar model.

Ecotricity – Communicating for Impact

New Zealand has long relied on conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE) as our primary mode of transport. Our transition to electric vehicles (EVs) has lagged behind other countries. Auckland congestion alone costs the NZ economy $1.25 billion per year. Worse, the latest ‘Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand’ study concluded that 3,300 people die each year from car pollution, with the health impacts costing $10 billion.

Shifting to more sustainable modes of transport couldn’t be more urgent. Since January 2022, Ecotricity has been on a mission to educate New Zealanders about EVs. Its goal is to be Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading voice on EVs.

Ecotricity test drives every EV that comes into the NZ market. It provides video reviews to give Kiwis the information they need to make an informed decision, and to remove any fear about the switch to EVs. All reviews are shared through Ecotricity’s own channels and a dedicated YouTube channel. Ecotricity also maintains an EV Buyers guide so users can easily compare all models alongside reviews.

Samantha Walmsley-Bartlett, Circularity – Change Maker

Sam lives by the words, ‘What you do makes a difference, and you decide what kind of difference you want to make’.

Sam’s passion is redesigning systems and sharing insights, tools and approaches for circular solutions. As a Sustainability Manager and Lead at 24 years old, Sam led multi-disciplinary teams from conception to delivery for a number of innovative, high-impact circular projects for Turners & Growers.

As an Environmental Strategist for Circularity, a circular design and innovation partner, Sam played an integral role in scaling impact across a variety of projects. This included supporting Countdown’s project to achieve zero food waste by 2025, increasing the reach of business capability programmes, and introducing measurement to Circularity’s work.

Sam takes any opportunity to share solutions, inspire change and create connections that deliver impact. She has participated in educational events such as Future Whenua and was invited to be a panellist at Agritech in the Orchards.

Sam has been a trustee of the Sustainable Coastlines board for four years and is now the Chairperson. Sam currently advises a start-up called Croptide and has mentored a start-up in Creative HQ’s Climate Accelerator programme, ArCubed.

Passionate about solutions, Sam recently shared the first 99 solutions of her 999 days of circular solutions newsletter series on LinkedIn. This is a personal research project aimed to inspire people with potential solutions that help build a future where people, business and nature thrive.

Deborah Manning – Sustainability Superstar

Lawyer turned social entrepreneur, Deborah Manning, always knew she wanted to make a positive difference and leave the world a better place for future generations.

Ten years ago, she saw a solution to Aotearoa New Zealand’s dual problems of food insecurity and food waste. Deborah launched KiwiHarvest in Dunedin in 2012. Initially, she collected rescued and donated food in her car, and delivered it to local social service agencies and food banks to distribute to families in need. Today, KiwiHarvest has grown to become Aotearoa’s largest food rescue organisation serving communities across the country.

While KiwiHarvest flourished, Deborah still recognised that the food rescue sector was missing an efficient solution that could get large volumes of surplus food from food businesses into vulnerable communities.

Her answer was a comprehensive, nationwide organisation, New Zealand Food Network. This organisation would streamline the systems that connect food donors and food charities. Since launching in 2020, the Network has transformed the food rescue sector, bringing efficiency and scale, and successfully connecting food supply and demand.

Beyond this, Deborah is a member and past co-chair of New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3. She’s also a leading voice in advocacy, strategy and education on food waste and food security.

MIL OSI