Remember Hormel’s acquisition of Justin’s last year? If you were surprised at that news, you weren’t alone. What could be stranger than the maker of Spam purchasing a vegetarian, organic brand of nut butters?
From a headline view, a company like Justin’s — known for its transparency and great culture — being gobbled up (pardon the pun) by one alleged to have abysmal working conditions doesn’t make much sense.
Except — it does.
It turns out that there’s a lot of money to be made running a socially responsible business. Globally, 84 percent of consumers in one survey said they buy responsible products whenever possible, and 56 percent said they would stop buying if they felt a company was unethical.
With numbers like that — and health food’s growing share of the market — maybe that acquisition was wiser than it seems.
The mechanics of socially responsible business
The concept of a triple bottom line — people, planet and profit — isn’t new. I personally ran a nonprofit that focused on redefining the role of business as a social partner and was founded as long ago as the early 1980s.
In recent years, the triple bottom line has become even more popular, as businesses realize the power of making people feel good. People buy stuff because they like it, but if doing so means they’re also giving a pair of shoes to someone who needs them or planting a tree where one’s needed, the purchase pushes their feel-good button. And the sense of altruism that results keeps them coming back for more.
If that sounds cynical, I don’t mean it to. Tapping the altruism button may trigger consumer behavior, but it also allows businesses with positive intent to thrive. Learning to seek profits in an ethical manner will not only help your bank account, but help the world at large.
There are, however, a few keys to doing it right. They are:
1. Don’t do it for the buzz. TOMS shoes popularized the whole “buy one, give one” concept, which, at this point, is almost a cliche. Consumers now are interested in companies that source, manufacture and distribute in sustainable ways.
Pura Naturals, to cite another example, makes sponges. The company doesn’t market its sustainability by giving away a sponge every time you buy one. But…