FBP Investment:
NAÏF
We are delighted to have invested in Netherlands-based B Corp Naïf and its mission-driven team led by Sjoerd Trompetter and Jochem Hes to support them on the next stage of their inspiring journey.
Parents are increasingly seeking baby care products which are better for their children but also for the environment in which they will grow and develop. At Naïf they are enabling the conscious consumer to shop with confidence by creating personal care products that can be trusted by parents and that are kinder for people and planet. Naïf’s world is one with a short and local supply chain, products free of microplastics and other concerning ingredients, where a UV suncream filter does not bleach coral reefs and where ingredients are 98% of natural origin. They co-Chair the B-Corp beauty working group on packaging and are making continuous strides in improving the environmental footprint of their own business with recycled and recyclable packaging and refill products.
As a Dutch market leader, having sold over 4 million products alone in 2022, Naïf's commercial ambition is boundless and FBP is excited to welcome former Unilever executive Thomas Escher as non-executive advisor to the business to assist its expansion across Europe and beyond.
FBP is a thematic European impact investor run by hands-on sector specialists, focused on driving the transition of household consumption towards a socially and environmentally sustainable future. Naïf is a fantastic example of the next generation of established, market-leading and fast-growing consumer brands which FBP is designed to support, providing staple consumer essentials to the mass market which are better for our ecosystems and communities. The need for this mega-trend is irresistible and the growth of conscious consumption has proven resilient to the economic challenges of the past year.
As a uniquely-aligned specialist investor for this sector, FBP is pioneering a new way of ethical investing by linking 100% of our own incentives to our contribution to Naif’s environmental and social goals as well as their financial goals.
FBP Investment:
Big Green Smile
We are thrilled to have made our first investment to support Big Green Smile, a brilliant and rapidly growing European e-tailer and curator of eco-friendly and socially responsible home and personal care products.
As consumers, we want to use more sustainable products but are faced with a barrage of options that don’t always do what they claim. Big Green Smile enables the conscious consumer to shop a carefully selected and ethically-vetted range of products with confidence, making it easier and more convenient for us all to use more sustainable products in our homes. Its mission-driven team, led by the inspiring and energetic Ben Wigley and Alasdair Cox, also embrace every opportunity to improve Big Green Smile's own environmental and social credentials as a competitive advantage which is already driving growth and customer loyalty.
Big Green Smile and the Future Business Partnership are perfectly aligned. As a consumer-specialist impact fund, we’re providing the Big Green Smile team with access to significant capital as well as to our operational expertise in sustainability and international e-commerce. Our partnership will accelerate the commercial expansion of the business and enable several ESG-focused development initiatives across technology, supply chain, fulfilment and customer service. We believe this combination of growth and positive change will ultimately build value for customers, suppliers, shareholders, colleagues and community.
And importantly the Future Business Partnership is proud to be pioneering a new type of private equity investing, which links its own incentives from this investment to the achievement of ESG goals as well as financial goals.
We’ll be excited to report our progress.
White Paper:
sustainability: beauty’s new battle ground
The sustainability movement has permeated the beauty industry faster and more extensively than any other recent trend – and so it must. Beauty products have always succeeded through providing their customers with a ‘feel-good’ factor and increasingly customers can’t feel good if they know they are contributing to the social and environmental problems we face, rather than being part of the solution.
There is of course a myriad of challenges to consider when creating a new sustainable beauty brand. Read in our white paper how success in sustainability can offer entrepreneurs a tremendous opportunity to have real social and environmental impact, as well as well deserved commercial gain.
White Paper:
Brand Ethics during lockdown
In March and April 2020, online activity spiked during the COVID-19 lockdown. Using data on social media engagement, customer sentiment, press coverage and search engine interest, this report demonstrates that those brands with a genuine commitment to social responsibility attracted more positive interest.
Communities favour brands who align with their values, on an authentic level, in good times and in bad.
Get into the detail in our web analytics white paper, written in collaboration with BenchSpark, a leading digital advisory to private equity firms and their consumer portfolio brands.
White Paper:
Ethical business as usual
In this white paper we draw insight from UK consumers on ethical purchasing decisions, review the recent financial performance of ethically-minded SMEs, and speak to experts who have lived and driven this agenda in their working lives for decades. These brands, entrepreneurs and leaders have all seen commercial success due to their efforts to be better, in their products, supply chains, workplaces and communities.
Explore how and why this is happening here, in our ethical business white paper, written in collaboration with Kin+Carta Advise, a digitally-native consultancy working across sectors to unlock the power of technology and data to make a positive impact, from enhanced customer experiences to innovative and sustainable new business models.