The Social Supermarket

One of First Wealth’s reasons for becoming a certified B Corp back in 2020, was to promote more social responsibility. We like to send our clients gifts for significant birthdays and events, so we went on a mission to find a provider we could work with who shared our values regarding sustainability and the environment.

Social Supermarket stood out for us, as their founding partners Jamie, Alex and Matt set up their business to create a place to showcase the most inspiring brands in the UK. They made the decision to only work with businesses that put more into the world than they take out. Before agreeing to work with any suppliers, they assess their environmental and social impact.

Source: Social Supermarket

We reached out to Social Supermarket to ask what inspired them and their plans for supporting more good causes, here is what Katie Rose (Marketing Lead) had to say:

“We set up Social Supermarket because we wanted it to be easy to shop from social enterprises. The feedback we get is that we make it easy to understand at a glance, the impact you’re contributing to, from saving wonky fruit to employing refugees and donating to charitable causes across the world.

“Sustainability means that products are made ethically with as little impact on the planet as possible – perhaps by repurposing or using would-be waste materials like many of our brands do. But many of our social impact brands take this one step further and create positive impact by dint of their business model. So, for Rubies in the Rubble, for instance, in 2020 orders from Social Supermarket customers helped to save 3,751kg of wonky fruit and veg from going to waste, equivalent to saving over 5.74 tonnes of CO2.

“By swapping to social impact brands alongside those who are more sustainable, individuals can help to create this kind of accumulative, incredible change in the world”.

Recently, I was a little confused when a box arrived saying 25 blue aprons…. thinking my online shopping addiction may now have gotten out of hand during lockdown! I opened the box to find the gifts we had purchased for the team from Social Supermarket as a little thank you treat for the Easter holidays. So often when we order things online, we end up with a massive box and so much excess padding, but there really isn’t the need for it. I was impressed that our goods arrived in a reused box and the right size for the items enclosed. This has also prompted me to think more about how I can personally start to make more of a difference with how I reuse materials rather than them ending up in the recycling bin.

Social Supermarket will only use packaging which is as green as possible. Their boxes and wine sleeves are made from recycled materials and their hamper baskets are from suppliers who prioritise sustainable farming methods, including using fast-growing regenerating crops without chemical intervention. Even the packaging for their peanuts is made from potato starch, so dissolve in Water or can be thrown in your compost bin. Food for thought the next time we choose to make a purchase.

The reaction we have received from those clients we have been able to send gifts to since swapping over to Social Supermarket has been fantastic. If you would like to send gifts to your friends and family or clients, or even treat yourself, check out their website here.

As a sustainable business, we also have other projects on the go, with one of them being to offset our carbon usage as a business and to become carbon neutral by 2030. In addition to this, as part of our new tree planting programme, we will plant 30 trees as part of a bigger certified reforestation project in Nicaragua for all new clients who have joined First Wealth since the start of 2021.

I’m proud that First Wealth aren’t just talking about what needs to be done, we enjoy rolling up our sleeves and being able to make a real difference.

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.