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INNOVATE
32 •
PPB
• APRIL 2015
SEEING
GREEN
sprouts actually protruding through the surface.
It’s the innovation and creativity behind Sprout Tyme that
has made the line popular, and sales are growing along with the
products, says Bradley. “We’ve never had a complaint about our
products not growing—we know they grow.” However, one of
the biggest challenges for Sprout Tyme is creating an under-
standing about the green products. “We really have to educate
and explain more than we do with our traditional products.”
Bradley says it is nice to be able to offer so many products
that have an impact on the environment as well as an impact
on a client’s market.
“We put a lot of time and money into creative products.
We are the one-stop shop for growing items,” he says. “We
will continue to look into new and innovative products. I don’t
see the demand going down. It has gone up, especially in the
past 10 years. I see it trending toward green and eco-friendly
products.”
COMMITTED CHANGE MAKERS
Fairware Promotional Products (UPIC: fairware), a
Vancouver, British Columbia-based distributorship, got its start
in 2005. Co-founded by Denise Taschereau and Sarah White,
who both had a craving for sustainability, Fairware is a compa-
ny that provides eco-friendly and socially responsible products
to clients. The two women do the
homework on ethical sourcing
and sustainable materials to
assure clients they meet their core
values. The company handles
product sourcing for ecologically-
and ethically-conscious brands
such as Aveda, Ben and Jerry’s,
Eileen Fisher, Stonyfield Farm
and many others.
“We’re sustainable brand
strategists; merchandise is our
medium. We leverage product to tell a story,” says Taschereau,
co-founder and CEO.
Taschereau explains that things have changed in the pro-
motional products industry. “It has really come a long way. Ten
years ago we’d call suppliers to ask about product safety and
they’d hang up on us. Or, they’d say, ‘Who are you?’ And then
hang up,” she says. “Unlike 10 years ago, today I can offer a
product quote with an up-to-date product safety report. That’s
really a big deal, and I applaud the industry for that.”
Taschereau believes there is truly a consumer concern
around product safety today and, for some of the larger
brands who historically haven’t thought about product safety
in relation to promotional products, it’s a new concern.
Likewise, the creation of sustainable, custom-branded prod-
ucts that come from big names like Coca-Cola, Disney,
L’Oreal, Avon and others, are changing the types of services
distributors now need to offer their clients. For example,
recently she had to do a company audit to meet the standards
for a large, national beauty company client. “Working with
others to do the audit, to meet their standards, was part of the
contract,” she says.
Fairware’s staff is comprised of passionate individuals. “Our
brand is about change. It is about selling change. It’s not about
stuff. We think the world can be a better place. We think that
finding, buying and using better merchandise can lead to a bet-
ter place. And, that’s what gets us up in the morning,” she says.
“We are constantly trying to give clients information—make
them feel like heroes—make them feel like they are part of the
solution, or can be. That’s what we do. It is more than the
product.”
She says when she sends a client a quote from Fairware, it
states that the product has been tested for Prop 65 in
California, that it is BPA-free, that the facility where the prod-
uct is made has been audited for social compliance and her
company can help the client calculate the energy savings by
using the product.
Tschereau says Fairware has been part of an important
new direction in the industry. “Knowing we’ve been a small
part of it, working with PPAI Green
Product Task Force, having general conver-
sations with other suppliers and distributors,
I think we feel we’ve been a part of driving
change in the industry,” she says.
GREEN … PLUS
For 42 years, Michael Arkes worked for
his family’s business, premium supplier Hinda
Incentives, serving as the company leader for
26 of those years. While working for Hinda,
Arkes was doing philanthropy work which
drove him to create a nonprofit corporation, Helping Hand
Partners (previously Helping Hand Rewards) in 2007. When
Hinda Incentives was sold in October 2012, Arkes began
devoting his energies full time to developing new business
opportunities for the organization.
Helping Hand Partners (UPIC: HHR), a PPAI business
services member, does things a little differently. The Chicago,
Illinois-based organization helps businesses source socially
responsible products for their clients while at the same time
helping organizations that are doing good for the world do
good in business as well. Through Helping Hand Partners,
companies are able to take their products to new channels of
distribution that they wouldn’t be able to reach or service on
their own. As Arkes, now president, explains on the company
Sarah White (left) and
Denise Taschereau