Case Study: Sustainable Sampling

Packaging & Materials

Client: Vegan cosmetics company

The Context & Challenge:

A vegan cosmetics company sought a packaging solution that decreased or removed the waste associated with sachet packaging circulation. Across skincare, body care, and haircare, the company offers customers sample sachets for approximately 65 SKUs. As a result, the company uses approximately 15 million sample sachets annually, which equate to more than 30 metric tons of un-recyclable multilayered film. Due to the Company’s dedication to improving the sustainability of their supply chain, Ubuntoo was invited to find innovations and solutions to address the challenges of their unsustainable packaging. The goal of the project was to map and match packaging solutions that fit several important parameters including:
- A packaging solution that is free of virgin petrochemicals
- A packaging material that does not rely on crops otherwise competitive in food systems.

The Deliverable:

MAPPING: Using our AI-powered private collaboration tool called GreenHouses, Ubuntoo mapped over 1,000 techno- commercial innovations and helped the Client narrow down to 73 promising solutions for sustainable product sampling sachets. Ubuntoo created detailed profiles for each of these solutions and facilitated a deal flow by polling team members and gathering reviews from experts to choose the best fit-for-purpose solution.

MATCHING: Ubuntoo works directly with innovators and solution owners to garner the latest and most pertinent information regarding the techno-commercial solutions in order to determine supply chain fit with the client. Once all the information has been collected, as part of the matching phase of the solution sprint, Ubuntoo developed a project-specific scoring system and assessment framework to shortlist the most viable candidates from the 73 initially vetted. This framework assessed solutions on the following parameters: raw material profile, end of life, shelf life, packaging format, and proved applications.

The Result:

A shortlist of six strategic solutions emerged, aligning with ambitious sustainability targets. These solutions encompassed advancing current packaging (Horizon 2) and revolutionary approaches (Horizon 3).

Result at a Glance:

Helped client narrow solutions from a list of 1,000 to 6 for further due diligence

The Context & Challenge:

A vegan cosmetics company sought a packaging solution that decreased or removed the waste associated with sachet packaging circulation. Across skincare, body care, and haircare, the company offers customers sample sachets for approximately 65 SKUs. As a result, the company uses approximately 15 million sample sachets annually, which equate to more than 30 metric tons of un-recyclable multilayered film. Due to the Company’s dedication to improving the sustainability of their supply chain, Ubuntoo was invited to find innovations and solutions to address the challenges of their unsustainable packaging. The goal of the project was to map and match packaging solutions that fit several important parameters including:
- A packaging solution that is free of virgin petrochemicals
- A packaging material that does not rely on crops otherwise competitive in food systems.

The Deliverable:

MAPPING: Using our AI-powered private collaboration tool called GreenHouses, Ubuntoo mapped over 1,000 techno- commercial innovations and helped the Client narrow down to 73 promising solutions for sustainable product sampling sachets. Ubuntoo created detailed profiles for each of these solutions and facilitated a deal flow by polling team members and gathering reviews from experts to choose the best fit-for-purpose solution.

MATCHING: Ubuntoo works directly with innovators and solution owners to garner the latest and most pertinent information regarding the techno-commercial solutions in order to determine supply chain fit with the client. Once all the information has been collected, as part of the matching phase of the solution sprint, Ubuntoo developed a project-specific scoring system and assessment framework to shortlist the most viable candidates from the 73 initially vetted. This framework assessed solutions on the following parameters: raw material profile, end of life, shelf life, packaging format, and proved applications.

The Result:

A shortlist of six strategic solutions emerged, aligning with ambitious sustainability targets. These solutions encompassed advancing current packaging (Horizon 2) and revolutionary approaches (Horizon 3).