Belu's Refreshing Take on Sustainability

How the Not-for-profit Social Enterprise is Using its Sustainable Ethos to Drive Industry-wide Change

In 2009, Belu had run up debts of almost £2m and was donating just £30k a year to charity. Today, the business is flourishing; with a turnover just north of 4.5m and more than £530k given to clean water charity WaterAid.

The reason for this turnaround? Former Emap and Barclays executive Karen Lynch, who was brought in to lead the company in 2010 and got to work restructuring the business model - effectively turning it on its head. Everything from the sales teams to distribution was outsourced, products were re-branded and re-designed and Belu shifted its focus from consumers to hospitality businesses. The Hertfordshire-based firm has doubled in size over the past two years and is now poised to go global.

One thing Lynch was insistent must remain consistent throughout this turnaround was Belu's ethical and environmental credentials. In fact, the company's growth has been offset by significant reductions in its footprint - its latest Impact Report makes for good reading, with a 29% reduction in emissions off a 2010 baseline and the development of a new lightweight glass bottle saving 850,000kg of glass annually. All the while, Belu has remained the only bottled water company to be 100% carbon neutral to a PAS 2060 standard.

Saving lives

Lynch admits that Belu's green growth hasn't been without its difficulties - particularly when it comes to maintaining brand values. "The message we sometimes struggle to get across is that we're first and foremost an environmental brand. The reason we struggle to get that message across is that everybody very quickly clamps onto the fact that we now give all of our profits to WaterAid, we save lives.

"But beyond that, generally, consumers are just too busy to care and there's an assumption that we and retailers should do the environmentally-friendly bit for them.

"We're environment-first but of course we need to make sure that the model is sustainable itself. We're all about incremental improvements but ultimately we want to prove that it's worth doing. Otherwise, how can we demonstrate to our industry that they should invest in processes that reduce carbon footprints?"

In terms of social impact, Belu recently announced an extension of its partnership with WaterAid, which will see the social enterprise donate at least £1m to the clean water charity by 2020.

Compete or collaborate?

And the brand is continuing to innovate on the sustainability front. Two recent initiatives that have helped Belu reduce its own environmental impact include 'Green Glass' and 'Ethical Glass' - both of which saw Belu opting to be collaborative rather than competitive in the marketplace.

Green Glass saw the introduction of green-coloured still and sparkling glass bottles; to give customers who do not want to buy imported water - with its larger carbon footprint - a continental-looking alternative, to rival popular European water brands. The results have been impressive; with the average recycled content of green bottles made in the UK standing at 74%, against 29% for clear glass.

Meanwhile, Ethical Glass, launched last year, saw Belu collaborate with glass packaging specialist Rawlings to produce the lightest weight glass bottle currently available on the UK market for mineral water, offering the hospitality sector a simple way to make a significant reduction in their carbon emissions. The results: Belu's glass bottles are now 18% lighter than previous designs, leading to a further 11% reduction in the firm's carbon emissions.

Source: Edie

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Taxonomy

• Water Management
• Drinking Water