Impact Unleashed Debuts as a First-of-its-Kind Pre-Competitive Forum for Pet Industry Sustainable Business Collaboration
On May 4 and 5, 2017, the Pet Sustainability Coalition launched its inaugural Impact Unleashed event with sixty five of the industry’s top business leaders in attendance to learn, share and move the pet industry towards a more sustainable future. With 16 influential speakers, from both inside and outside the industry, Impact Unleashed revealed the business case for sustainability through bottom line savings, top line growth, attraction of top talent, increased employee productivity, improved brand value and decreased supply chain risk.
Impact Unleashed marked an important moment in time for the pet industry: for the first time, competing companies acknowledged that sustainability is a noncompetitive issue and that it is imperative that the industry pull together to ensure businesses can scale their impact. Pet industry leaders took center stage to tell stories about a variety of topics including how employee morale impacts the bottom line and how sourcing sustainable proteins can alleviate environmental crisis and drive economic prosperity for entire regions right here in the US. The event also broke out of the classroom where pet industry professionals had the opportunity to sit around a campfire and exchange ideas with the head of markets for WWF, the Co-Founder of Go-Lite, CEO of West Paw Design, up-and-comer Logan Honeycutt of BareItAll Petfoods, as well as established market leaders like KONG, Cardinal Pet Care, and PetSmart.
Centered on providing education and inspiration around the implementation of sustainability, the keynote lineup included innovative brands like Badger Company and Eco-Products, as well as organizations shifting entire industries like Word Wildlife Fund, B Corp, and Savory Institute. Impact Unleashed revealed some of the hotspot issues that are fueling destructive tension among brands and damaging the reputation of the pet industry at large; protein sourcing issues like human-grade and byproducts were discussed alongside human justice and forced labor issues. The complete line up of speakers at Impact Unleashed included representatives from B Lab, World Wild Life Fund, The Savory Institute, Sustainability Apparel Coalition, Eco Products, W.S. Badger Company, Himalayan Dog Chew, BareItAll Petfoods, Cardinal Pet Care, PetSmart, WorldWise, Inc., I and love and you, Healthy Pet, Ento Bento, PAW5, and West Paw Design.
Attendees reported that they are adding Impact Unleashed to their annual travel schedule as a must-attend event. Attendance is expected to double for next year’s Impact Unleashed as more and more companies seek tools and resources to improve their businesses, empower their employees, and serve the growing consumer demand for responsible products and companies.
Wondering how to catch the innovation bug? Visit Impact Unleashed to watch videos of the event’s inspirational speakers on topics ranging from employee engagement and living wages, to alternative protein sourcing and the industry’s impact on agriculture.
