How Provenance’s Transparency Framework helps beauty brands communicate product impact
The beauty industry isn’t good at opening up when it comes to ingredients and impact. But the ‘values shopper’ cohort is growing, and brands need to step up to meet their expectations. According to the British Beauty Council’s Courage To Change report, 86% of beauty shoppers want information about ingredient supply chains. Brands are falling behind these customer expectations: 1 in 5 customers don’t know how to check a product’s sustainability credentials.
Supply chain transparency is a difficult issue for brands. At Provenance, however, we believe they have a responsibility to open up about impact. And, with customer expectations for transparency growing fast, those who do will benefit. We believe every product should come with accessible, trustworthy information about origin, journey and impact. Through Provenance’s Transparency Framework, we’re helping beauty brands deliver exactly this.
What’s the Transparency Framework?
Our Transparency Framework is an open-source framework that helps companies communicate the impact of their business and supply chains with integrity. The framework is benchmarked to international standards, verifiable through proof and backed up by a council of expert advisors. It allows brands to turn supply chain data into information shoppers can understand, accessible through off-pack and online channels.
As part of the Transparency Framework process, we work with brands to develop a comprehensive understanding of a product’s impact throughout the supply chain. This covers a range of issues relating to a business’s impact, from carbon impact to animal welfare issues. The framework then allows brands to communicate the impact through Proof Points, which connect claims around impact to real data in the supply chain.
What does it mean for beauty brands?
1: Unlock the truth around ingredients
Beauty shoppers are used to a lack of information around ingredients. When ingredients lists are disclosed, they’re often difficult to understand, making it hard for shoppers to make an informed decision.
2: Add clarity to clinical claims
Beauty shoppers are used to brands marketing their products as ‘clinically tested’. But unfortunately, not all claims adhere to a consistent standard, and shoppers are generally left in the dark on the nature of these tests.
3: Communicate with confidence on product recyclability
British Beauty Council research found that unrecyclable packaging is amongconsumers’ top environmental concerns – and little wonder, given that the global cosmetics industry produces more than 120 billion units of packaging every year.
4: Build trust with third-party proof
According to a Compare Ethics report, just 1 in 5 shoppers trust brands’ sustainability claims. It’s perhaps understandable thatlarge brands are often guilty of ‘greenhush’, and reluctant to communicate progress for fear of backlash.
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Merian Ventures portfolio company Provenance is associated with the above feature. Merian Ventures is a venture firm founded by Alexsis de Raadt St. James that invests in women-founded and co-founded tech innovation in the US and UK.