Wave magazine

Wave talks to some small businesses with planet-changing ideas. This month it’s the turn of Nicholas Watson and Vanessa Hadley from Jungle Berry, who supply ethically sourced homewares and accessories

What was the inspiration behind setting up the company?
We both lived and worked in Latin America before we set up Jungle Berry. It’s a region that’s so rich in natural resources, but blighted by so many problems, including great poverty. Inspired by all the beautiful crafts and textiles of the region, and tapping into all the knowledge we’d picked up in Latin America, we decided to use business as a tool for development.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced?
We work in one of the most inaccessible regions in the world – the Amazon. Manaus, where most of our Brazilian producers are based, is 1,700 miles from Rio de Janeiro and five days by boat from the Atlantic. Needless to say, getting our supply chains up and running was a bit of a challenge! When you’re dripping with sweat under a tree talking to a producer in the middle of the world’s biggest rainforest, little old England can seem a long way off.

What’s been your biggest success?
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Wave talks to some small businesses with planet-changing ideas. This month it’s the turn of Henrietta Lovell, from The Rare Tea Company

What was the inspiration behind setting up the company?
I used to travel widely across Asia working in Financial Services. In China I tasted incredible teas. Back in Britain I searched in vain for good green tea but all I could find was pretty packaging. I soon realised that the large scale tea companies have attempted to capture consumers with the lure of health benefits and clever packaging rather than by the quality of their teas. I set up Rare Tea Company to source and sell the very best. We are a nation of loyal tea drinkers and we deserve it.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced?
Getting customers to realise that green tea isn’t just a bitter brew for the virtuous. So many people drink green tea because they think its good for them and have no idea it can also be a delicious indulgence. It’s a lot like wine: if all you’d only ever tasted was a sour plonk from the corner shop you’d wonder why people got excited about wine. But once you’ve had the good stuff there is no going back.

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Wave talks to some small businesses with planet-changing ideas. This month it’s the turn of Sam Roger from Ethics Girls

What was the inspiration behind setting up the company?
I have always wanted to set up my own business. I was inspired to work within the ethical movement, particularly in ethical fashion, as I think clothing is a real challenge for ethical trade and their supply chains. Getting a Fairtrade mark for cotton was a significant milestone, but the real challenge is in ensuring a fair manufacturing system. Setting up a website, primarily focused for women, came from looking around the market and basically coming up with something that met the needs of my friends and I. With busy lives to lead, we can’t all be experts, so I wanted to start something up where women could learn and inform each other – I started recycling my cat food tins because my friend was doing it and I thought, “Well, if she’s doing that, then I’d better do it too!”

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced?
Having never set a business up before, it can be quite daunting at times – very different from working in an established company. Sometimes it’s the little challenges of working from home, like not having colleagues to chat to, as I am a bit of a chatterbox. The biggest hurdle is certainly raising funds and also trying to convince people that your idea is a winner in a very competitive marketplace. The experience has certainly made me stronger and I can confirm that I don’t give up easily!

What’s been your biggest success?
We are still in the early stages of trading, but the responses we’ve had so far have been my first milestone of success. I just got an email from Holland today saying the site was the best eco site they had seen and that they wanted to put in an order.

Who are your heroes?
I have great admiration for people who fight for the rights of others – so on a big scale it’s Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. There are also some great heroes within the Fairtrade community – Willington Wamayeye from the Gumutindo Coffee Cooperative in Uganda has a great ability to really inspire. Pauline Tiffin is another – she was the managing director at Twin Trading (Fairtrade coffee traders) for many years and then took up the reins of Divine Chocolate at its start.

» www.ethicsgirls.co.uk
» see www.justdrinkingwater.com

As we are becoming more aware of our personal impact on the planet, some of us are trying to lessen this damage in various ways, such as recycling and responsible shopping.

But do you know where your money is invested?

If you have financial plans such as savings and pension plans, did the advisor ask whether you have any ethical or environmental concerns about where your money is invested, and if not, why not?

This can also apply to employee benefits. Does your employer offer a pension scheme and is there an ethical fund option? If it’s a pension plan with an insurance company, does the provider offer an ethical fund? Are you given a choice or just a default fund?

For those with final salary defined benefit schemes (simply put, schemes that offer a percentage of your salary for each year in service) are the investments within the scheme ethically screened?

As there has been a change in pensions law which now allows trustees and fund managers to look at ethical as well as financial factors, maybe now is the time to ask.

Some of the better ethical fund managers actively engage with individual companies. Areas covered may include the key environmental and social issues that may have the potential to affect the company’s financial performance or risk profile. These may include:

• Management of environmental risk.
• Management of reputation risk.
• Maximising cost savings.
• Development of new business opportunities.

The funds may seek to use investor influence to promote good practice management of environmental, social and governance issues.

We can all make an impact but we must remember to ask the right questions. Workshops and seminars are planned for 2008. Call to register.

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Vanessa Kelley and Robin Currie are Independent Financial Advisers for Barchester Green Ltd (www.barchestergreen.co.uk) who specialise in ethical and ecological financial products. Vanessa is based in Brighton – call 01273 307028 or e-mail vanessa.kelley@barchestergreen.co.uk for an appointment. Next year Vanessa will be hosting seminars with MayoWynneBaxter and Robin will be running Making Friends With Money (www.makingfriendswithmoney.co.uk or call 01392 346336).

Wave talks to some small businesses with planet-changing ideas. This month it’s the turn of Neil Tomlinson from Just Drinking Water

What was the inspiration behind setting up the company?
The inspiration for the business itself – packaging mineral water in environmentally aware majority paper cartons – was down to growing up on the coast and seeing more and more plastic washing up on the shore each year. Plastic bottled water has become very popular over the past 10 years or so and it’s become my nemesis, distracting me from enjoying beauty when on a beach, out for walks or cycling anywhere. There’s an old adage – if you want something done then do it yourself. I knew I wanted to do something on my own and reward those who worked alongside me.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced?
We’re still facing it as we paddle our own boat asking retailers to stock Aquapax. There are scandalous margins available from selling water in plastic bottles; it makes this a conscious decision for retailers to support Aquapax as the only natural pure mineral water, suitable for anyone, packed in more sustainable paper cartons.

What’s been your biggest success?
Never giving up and finally meeting the girl who became my wife. This has taught me to rely on my inbuilt self-belief; never to compromise my core.

Who are your heroes?
How long have you got? There are so many people I draw inspiration from every day, but growing up in an effective police state, it’s every person of conviction who stands up for what they believe (without resorting to destructive violence).

Journalists like Kate Webb are legendary in my book – and Nelson Mandela, obviously. More latterly the actor Leonardo DiCaprio for daring to speak out about climate change – and every single one of our customers who is open minded to seeing what the future can look like by personally asking their local retailers to stock Aquapax on their shelves.

For more information see www.justdrinkingwater.com