What happens when you put together retail executives from a beauty brand, a menstrual care brand, and a farming company in the same room? A panel discussion, of course, on how retail can become truly circular.

Why? Well, sustainability has become a buzzword in retail, and almost every retailer has their own take on it.

When Retail Brew moderated a panel discussion on sustainability at the Porte Conference last month, we (hi, it’s Jeena!) asked each company representative for their brands’ takes on circularity, addressing greenwashing claims, and how to make sure the company is profitable.

Lisa Guerrera, co-founder and CEO of Experiment, a science-based beauty brand.

As a science-backed brand, one of the unique approaches that we have is that we’ve used sustainability not necessarily as an aesthetic thing or marketing thing. We view it as kind of the next wave of transparency. We’ve talked about greenwashing extensively, but just the idea of using sustainability as a branding tool, rather than having any substance behind it; just throwing products in glass packaging and calling that sustainable—that’s actually not as sustainable as you might think it is when you look at the data. So for us, the way we approach sustainability is completely through a data-backed, science backed approach.

Keep reading here.—JS

If you’ve ever worked in the office when lunchtime rolls around, you’ve probably seen the herds of people headed to grab a bowl from Sweetgreen.

The chain of salad counters is known for their organically sourced ingredients and partnerships with local chefs and farms. But as the company rapidly expands, they face the issue of remaining true to their values of sustainability and connecting to their surrounding communities.

Marketing Brew sat down with the salad giant’s Chief Brand Officer Nathaniel Ru to find out how they focus their growth strategy on a few organic ingredients + how they maintain their relationships with food and people. Check out the conversation here.

In March, Retail Brew looked at continually skyrocketing CPG prices, and spoke with industry experts about when—if ever—they’d come back down, especially as many of the big CPG companies reported record sales and profits on the back of these price hikes:

“I don’t think that corporations can get away with price increases forever, for most goods, because eventually consumers can actually cut back. It just takes some time,” Chris Becker, senior economist at economic policy group Groundwork Collaborative, said. “Eventually, they have that concern that they will start losing that…volume.”

Update: Since then, consumer demand has remained largely consistent (though some have tweaked their shopping habits). Companies like Kellogg and PepsiCo have raised their full-year forecasts as a result of price hikes. PepsiCo raised prices 16% in Q1, and said it would raise prices in some areas, after claiming it wouldn’t earlier in the year.

Keep reading here.—EC

We’re just about 50% through 2023, and earlier this week, we reviewed our Q1 coverage, including our look at predictions for the year, robots in retail, and supply chains. In Q2, we dug into resale, customer experience, and Gen Z.

Resale and sustainability—they’re often mentioned in the same breath. And while we at Retail Brew often do just that, we also try not to conflate the two concepts: Instead, we view resale as a category that warrants its own examination. In April, we took a look at retailers, like Chanel, Hermès, and L.L.Bean, that are not yet sold on resale. You know who’s sold on resale, though, and pretty much always have been? Thrift shops and Goodwill. But does it still make sense for fashion retailers to launch resale platforms? Turns out, it depends. And we wouldn’t be Retail Brew if we didn’t delve into the emerging technologies changing the resale game.

Keep reading here.—EW

Some of our favorite recent retail reads from our sibling Brews.

On background: Here's what happened when a quick-service pizza chain with 500+ locations decided to do away with background checks for entry-level jobs. (HR Brew)

At risk: Tech components and electronics supply chains account for a substantial proportion of the imported goods at risk of being produced by forced labor worldwide. (Tech Brew)

Coming clean: Wayfair debuted a clean-room pilot with Pinterest to gain insight into ad performance on the platform as companies, including Albertsons, test privacy-focused methods of reaching audiences. (Marketing Brew)

Retail radar: Want in-the-know details on what’s trending, trailing, and sticking around in retail? Download Marigold’s Retail Consumer Trends Index to peep the stats and meet your customers where they are.*

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