The Better Business Show
A podcast to offer insight, inspiration and hope for organisations looking to create positive change in the world.
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Most listened to
Cellular Agriculture
The time is now for
lab-grown meat
Divine Chocolate
The chocolate business leading on Fairtrade
hiSbe
This is what supermarkets should look like
Ella’s Kitchen
Be more toddler to drive business success
Hampton Creek
The company making mayo without eggs
Belinda Raffy
Got something serious to say? Make it funny
Food
Cellular Agriculture
The time is now for lab-grown meat
About this episode
Around 30% of the word’s total land is used not to grow grains, fruits and vegetables that we directly eat as human beings, but to support the chickens, pigs and cattle that we eventually eat.
And the environmental impact of all this large-scale meat production is having serious implications for the world’s climate. Animal waste releases methane and nitrous oxide, greenhouse gases that are 25 and 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, respectively.
Step forward Illtud Dunsford, CEO of Cellular Agriculture, our guest on this week’s show. He says: There is a better way. And it involves tissue engineering technology, producing the exact same meat but in a laboratory. Enjoy our chat.
Nestlé
How the giant plans to solve the global food crisis
About this episode
We report from inside the HQ of the world's biggest food business, Nestlé to explore a wealth of solutions designed to solve the global nutrition crisis – including contact lenses that can monitor your glucose levels and smart watches that use your doctors' notes to prescribe exactly the right diet.
Around 795 million people go to bed hungry every night, while 2.1 billion people are overweight or obese; something's got to give. Hearing from businesses, NGOs, academics and consumer-bahaviour experts, this special edition of the show delves into the challenges of the food system – and why it is time to act now if we are to sustain 10 billion healthy people on this planet by 2050.
Hampton Creek
The company making mayo without eggs
About this episode
This time, you get the chance to step inside the most talked about business on the planet right now.
Hampton Creek’s CEO Josh Tetrick gives us a flavour of what makes his company tick – from attracting investment to staying true to your mission. Learn how this San Francisco unicorn plans to change the way we eat forever by not appealing to hearts and minds, just making great food.
Kuli Kuli
Transforming lives with super superfood
About this episode
Meet Kuli Kuli, the US-based business making use of the moringa plant to create a range of energy and health bars.
We’re in conversation with Lisa Curtis, the CEO, who explains why moringa is a plant that has the potential to not only change the health and dietary habits of those in the West, but also the lives and livelihoods of farming communities across the developing world.
Energy and climate
Aceleron
The company refusing to accept when a lithium ion battery is ‘dead’
About this episode
Lithium-ion batteries continue to be the technology of choice for all the major consumer gadget players; it's no wonder that the market is set to explode in the next few years. But what happens to these lithium-ion batteries when they reach the end of their life?
We catch up with Amrit Chandan, co-founder of Aceleron, a business that hopes to revolutionise the way people use and think about low-cost energy storage. A business dreamt up by Amrit and his partner and co-founder Carlton Cummins during their lunch breaks working for a management consultancy, it is on a mission to repackage lithium-ion batteries in a way that is safe, cost effective and useful again.
Pollinate Energy
Ridding the world of dirty kerosene, one slum at a time
About this episode
This time we’re with the incredibly resourceful Alexie Seller, CEO and co-founder of Pollinate Energy, a genius start-up transforming the lives of those living in the slums of India by helping people to access clean energy solutions.
LanzaTech
Changing the game on dirty fuels by turning waste into biofuels
About this episode
This time we are with the exciting LanzaTech, a business using gas fermentation to take waste carbon from the atmosphere and turn it into biofuels – a move that might just shake up the entire renewable energy and transportation markets. Sean Simpson, co-founder of the business, joins us on Skype to tell us more.
Riversimple
The car (and business model) your kids are gonna love
About this episode
This time we are with Hugo Spowers, the brains behind Riversimple, the new car maker keen to rip up the rule book when it comes to how vehicles are powered and 'owned'. He has spent the last 16 years creating a business fit for the 21st century as people will ultimately be forced to banish their combustion engines completely.
HomeTree
Why I left my €100k CEO job aged 26 to set up this company
About this episode
What makes somebody give up their €100k salary and CEO position to launch a start up at the age of 26?
Well, that’s what our guest this week has done. His company is HomeTree, a UK based tech start-up focused on alleviating the hassle too often associated with buying energy-saving equipment for your home.
New Light Technologies
The innovators turning cow burps into plastic
About this episode
There's a problem with plastic – from the way it is made to the way it is disposed of. But there is a better way.
There is a better way of creating plastics by sucking nasty greenhouse gases out of the air, combining it with oxygen and forming pellets that can be used to form a range of plastic products. Meet Mark Herrema, CEO of New Light Technologies, a company truly shaking up the manufacturing sector.
Heineken
The world’s first zero-carbon brewery
About this episode
This time we’re in the mountains of Austria with global beer maker Heineken, to meet the team behind the world's first zero carbon brewery.
Reducing the pollution associated with its more than 160 breweries worldwide is a key priority for the business. In fact, by 2020 carbon emissions coming from its beer production will be cut by 40% should it meet internal goals. Michael Dickstein, the company's global director for sustainable development, explains how the impressive project at the Goss brewery in Austria sets the bar for what is to come as the business continues to prove its worth as a responsible company, fit for the 21st century.
Mobisol
Using drones to deliver solar power to Africa
About this episode
This time we meet Mobisol – a German solar energy business with an awesome business model for scaling up clean energy use across Africa. And if they can get drones to deliver units in remote villages and towns, the game changes forever.
Plus, we play ‘Lovable Brand or Fake Corporate Imitation’, catch up on Kansas City's new sustainable streetcar, get to grips with Mars' new energy commitments and find out whether The Simpsons can actually teach your kids to care for the planet.
ZAPP
The world’s first digital energy currency
About this episode
This time we are in the company of James Williams, a start-up entrepreneur who hopes his idea – to incentivise people to charge their electronic devices at times of the day when clean energy systems are at their most productive – has legs.
We also catch up with Vikki Knowles for the latest news from across the world of sustainable business, featuring Boeing, Levi Strauss and the new solar cell technology that can make energy from water as well as light.
Tumalow
Reducing company energy bills like never before
About this episode
Another fascinating start-up this time: Tumalow combines solar PV with battery energy storage and software to get rid of those pesky customer demand charges. We're in conversation with the CEO William Gathright.
Also, we catch up with Jake Backus, former customer sustainability director at Coca-Cola, to find out why companies find it so hard to talk about green issues with Joe Public.
Half Moon Bay Brewing Co.
Making beer using waste water
About this episode
We meet Lenny Mendonca, owner of Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., the Californian business that is using Nasa technology to produce beer using water that has passed through sinks and showers. Recent taste tests give the beer the thumbs up. Now, it's up to Lenny to convince the regulators to show similar positive – and help reduce the pressure on businesses still reeling from a prolonger drought in the region.
Ecovative
Meet the mushroom packaging guys
About this episode
This time we meet Eben Bayer, the co-founder of Ecovative, the US business growing packaging and building materials out of mushrooms. Yes, mushrooms. Intrigued? Tune in to find out how and why this company is shaking up the building materials sector.
Limejump
Shaking up the energy market
About this episode
In conversation with Erik Nygaard, co-founder of Limejump, the data platform aiming to shake up the energy market by solving the ongoing challenge of green-energy supply meeting demand.
Ignitia
The ultimate weather forecast for the Tropics
About this episode
Meet Liisa Petrykovska, CEO and founder of Ignitia, the organisation boosting the accuracy of weather forecasting in the Tropics – and the livelihoods and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers in the process.
Waste & resources
Seacourt
This is what a ‘net positive’ printing company looks like
About this episode
Meet Gareth Dinnage, the man at the helm of Seacourt, an Oxford-based printer that has spent the last 20 years slowly turning the entire dirty business of commercial printing on its head. We’ve all got print jobs we need doing – whether its for corporate reports, or marketing literature. But imagine if your printing activity had a positive impact on the planet rather than a negative one. Gareth gives the hows, whys and wherefores.
Green Banana Paper
I learned everything about running my business from watching Youtube
About this episode
This time, we’re with Matt Simpson, the man behind Green Banana Paper, a company developed purely as a way to give local employment to a demographic of island dwellers in Micronesia who would most likely have left for jobs in the city. Making wallets from banana trees, learn how this unique company’s process has been a labour of love for Matt, and a great example of alternative materials playing their role in building products of the future.
Buddha Boxers
The bamboo boxers making cotton look pants
About this episode
A show title likely to get completely and utterly lost on our North American listeners, we appreciate….this time we’re with Jason Spitkoski, a man that has left his background as a tech developer behind to chase the dream of running a successful underwear business. He is the proud owner of Buddha Boxers, a company that is getting seriously comfortable that its raw material of bamboo is capable of blowing cotton out of the water as a sustainable material of choice in the 21st century.
Grn Sportswear
The brand kickstarting a revolution in sportswear
About this episode
This time we're with Rob Webbon, a man on a mission to rip up the fast fashion rulebook with his sportswear brand.
From the circular materials used in the production, to his philosophy to manufacture local, there are plenty of takeaways from Rob's vision for Grn Sportswear.
Takestock
Using the principles of eBay to solve the food waste crisis
About this episode
This time we meet Campbell Murray, the brains behind Takestock - an online platform based on the principles of eBay, to connect buyers and sellers of unwanted food. With 600,000 tonnes of food thrown away every year – at a cost to the UK economy of £1bn, here's a company trying to get to the heart of the age-old problem with supermarket-farmer relationships.
Toast Ale
Turning waste bread into beer
About this episode
When does a charity become a business? This week, we're with the brilliant Toast Ale, a London-based company taking surplus bread that would have been thrown out and using it to make great tasting beer.
Plus, the news round up features flying taxis, an app to grab cheap food, a Kickstarter-type platform with some real kick and the awesome Library of Things.
Adaptavate
The company making our old buildings healthy with a new set of lungs
About this episode
This time we’re in the company of Tom Robinson, a man on a mission to create healthier buildings with with his bio-composite alternative to traditional plasterboard. “Our products act as a set of lungs, absorbing the moisture when we cook and clean and then, when we sleep, breathing it back out.”
ByFusion
Building the blocks to eliminate ocean plastic waste
About this episode
Gregor Gomory hopes to leverage the 'perfect storm' brewing as ocean waste hits the mainstream of environmentalism. His business, ByFusion, makes building blocks out of ocean plastic waste – and he wants to open source how they might be used in communities everywhere.
Elvis & Kresse
The luxury goods business turning fire hoses into handbags
About this episode
From old decommissioned fire hose and parachute silk, to tea and coffee sacks and show leather scraps, Kresse Wesling has made it her lifetime mission to rid the world of waste, one small step at a time. And she’s doing it, all the while running a luxury goods business bringing stunning items to market. Find out the hows, whys and wherefores during this week’s show.
Buy Me Once
The website selling products that are built to last
About this episode
This time we meet Tara Button, the founder of Buy Me Once, a website selling only products that have been designed to stand the test of time. It’s one of a growing number of businesses which are standing up to the epidemic of over-consumption, encouraging people to think before they buy, and favouring quality over quantity.
Tom Cridland
Selling t-shirts with a 30-year guarantee
About this episode
Meet Tom Cridland, the international fashion designer shaking up the market for ethical fashion, putting fairness and transparency centre stage – and offering a 30-year guarantee on his t-shirts and sweatshirts for starters.
Rype Office
The man turning the office furniture market on its head
About this episode
We’re in conversation with Greg Lavery, a man who has used his many years in sustainable business consultancy as the foundations for Rype Office, a company disrupting the way companies buy – and get rid of – office furniture.
Plus, Vikki Knowles is on hand with a round-up of the week's better business news, featuring EasyJet, IKEA and Italian cyclists.
Suga
Turning old wetsuits into yoga mats
About this episode
This time we’re California dreaming with Brian Shields, CEO and founder of Süga, a smart and circular business recycling the cumbersome wetsuit into yoga mats. Find out how, why and where his business is headed to next..
Purpose
Project JUST
What’s up with Ivanka Trump’s fashion line?
About this episode
We catch up with Natalie Grillon, co-founder and co-CEO of Project JUST, an online platform that wants you to seriously sort out your shopping habits out – and has Ivanka Trump's clothing line firmly in her sights.
Wooln
The fashion brand run by knitting grandmothers
About this episode
Imagine a business set up with the sole intention of getting older people working. Well, that's what this week's guest business, Wooln has done. Find out why and how this New York-based fashion brand has made it happen.
Also, Gareth Kane gives us his Top 10 Sustainability Mistakes – and how to learn from them.
Good Money Week
How put your money where you mouth is
About this episode
More and more investors want to pour their money into making a positive contribution to society and the planet – but they don't really know where to start. As Good Money Week kicks off, we use this week's show to question how ethical investing can be used as a force for good and what people can do to make a real difference.
You also get my review of Leonardo DiCaprio's new film, Before the Flood.
Village Underground
The East London start-up space with a difference
About this episode
This time we meet Auro Foxcroft, a man with a vision to turn a derelict pocket of East London into a living, breathing creative hub for start-ups across the capital. The disused Tube carriages on the roof are just part of this truly inspiring story of perseverance, determination and passion. Step inside Village Underground.
For more great Better Business Show stories head to the website: www.betterbusiness.show
hiSbe
This is what a supermarket SHOULD look like
About this episode
With 95p of every £1 spent in big supermarkets leaving the local economy, clearly they are no good for local communities.
This episode’s guest business is proving that its social enterprise model can be applied to the often brutal supermarket sector. Meet HiSbe, a community-first food store that wants to built better relationships with customers, staff and suppliers.
We also check in with the Global Alliance on Banking Values to explore how a group of banks are using finance to positively effect change across the world.
Triodos
What’s the point of banking, anyway?
About this episode
What’s the point of banking? What can financial institutions – with all their power and influence – do to help create a better, fairer and more sustainable world?
This time we spend some time with Bevis Watts, the UK managing director for Triodos Bank, a company which believes that banking can be a powerful force for good: serving individuals and communities as well as building a more sustainable society.
Flamingo
Empowering women through high heel sales
About this episode
This time we meet Shaz Umbreen, a women on a mission to empower women through her high heels business. By channelling funds to support education programmes in the developing world, she believes the empowered women buying her shoes can inspire women everywhere to take control of their lives.
Honest Tea
How do you run a mission-driven business when you’ve sold out to a corporate giant?
About this episode
We meet the founder of Honest Tea, Seth Goldman to find out what its like selling your baby to a corporate giant like Coca-Cola, something he did back in 2011. “We didn’t set out to create a model of change; we wanted to be a driver of change,” says Seth – something the deal has allowed him to do.
Rose & Willard
The fashion house shaking up the industry by ensuring models actually eat
About this episode
We are in the company of Heidy Rehman, founder and managing director of Rose & Willard, an ethical and feminist British womenswear brand based in London.
This is a company which has made pieces for Jennifer Aniston and Gemma Arterton. This is a company that pays interns. This is a company that makes sure its models eat properly.
This is a company with the lowest carbon footprint in the fashion Industry. And this is a company that is always looking to source materials that are different, such as fish leather.
Plus, this week we kick off a brand new series: Thoughts, provocations and big ideas for a sustainable future, with the marvellous Joss Tantram from Terrafiniti.
Cook
The frozen-food business employing ex-offenders
About this episode
This time we meet Charlotte Sewell from Cook, the frozen food business doing more than most to create true social impact, whether in employing ex-offenders or helping staff to fulfil their dreams.
Plus, our news round-up features Marks & Spencer (and it's first human rights progress report), the beer company making edible packaging, the problem with cement, and non-EU Norway's tough stance on deforestation.
Neighbourly
The social network for social good
About this episode
This time we meet Nick Davies, founder of Neighbourly.com, the social network for social good. Find out how this unique platform is creating positive change across the UK.
Plus, our news round-up features new London mayor Sadiq Khan, solar-mad Etsy and Ikea's new range of products.
Etho Capital
The firm proving there is a better way to invest
About this episode
Money, money, money. Meet Ian Monroe, co-founder of Etho Capital, an investment management company at the heart of the emerging fossil fuel divestment movement – and proving to the investment community that putting your money into socially responsible companies does not have to negatively affect returns. Find out how and why the tide is turning.
Supply chain
Sprout
How do you solve a problem like the promotional products market?
About this episode
This time, we are with Sprout, the promotional products business with a difference, giving pencils a second life and using the power of product to make serious messages about our throwaway culture easier to understand.
Rapanui
We bought an off-the-shelf ethical supply chain
About this episode
We’re in the company of Rob Drake-Knight, co-founder of the super ethical and fully traceable t-shirt business Rapanui. How does this Isle of Wight-based manufacturing company continue to innovate, using the power of technology to boost its impact in the world.
We also have an incredibly exciting announcement to make – which sees The Better Business Show launch its very own business with Rapanui’s off-the-shelf ethical supply chain. Check it out.
Strategy
Ella’s Kitchen
The key to business success? Be more toddler
About this episode
We catch up with the brilliant Paul Lindley, founder of organic baby food business Ella’s Kitchen. “It’s about the why we do business, not necessarily the what we do business for. We must all find our why!”
Junxion
What does it mean to be a B Corporation?
About this episode
This time we’re in the company of Adam Garfunkel, MD of Junxion – one of the UK's first 100 registered B Corps – to find out what that even means and why you might want to go down the same route.
Plus, this week's news round-up features monkey-dating with the Body Shop, bricks made from old cigarette butts and the new vodka made from San Francisco's fog.
Webmart
The Marxist Capitalist way to do business
About this episode
Meet Simon Biltcliffe, the man at the helm of Webmart, a successful print management company that combines both Capitalist and Marxist ideals to running his business that cares just as much about emotional and intellectual value as financial.
Plus, this week's news round up, including sustainable seafood, Waitrose TV ads, Emma Watson's dress and wastewater-treating earthworms.
Matthew Turner
How businesses can leverage mistakes to succeed
About this episode
Creating new products, services and business models fit for the 21st century demands risk-taking. This time we chat to Matthew Turner, author of Successful Mistake to discuss how companies can fail fast – and leverage mistakes to build better, stronger businesses.
We also catch up with Vikki Knowles for all the latest news, this week featuring: Earth Day, Fashion Revolution, Marks & Spencer and edible cutlery.
DutchaWEARness
A truly circular business
About this episode
Confused by the circular economy? Then, allow Rien Otto and Iris van Wanrooij explain their business Dutch aWEARness, creating a closed loop textiles offering for corporate and workwear.
Communications
Do Nation
The donation platform that isn’t just after your cash
About this episode
Charitable giving has exploded in the last 12 months, with more than $168m donated on Giving Tuesday, a 20% jump on last year. But as our guest on this week's show says, there is more to giving than just cash donations.
Hermione Taylor is the founder of Do Nation, an online platform which encourages people to give by changing their lifestyles and behaviours to help ease the burden on our beloved planet.
Belinda Raffy
Got something serious to say? Make it funny
About this episode
In our information age full of concepts and stories, how do you make your ideas stick?
According to this week's guest, comedy doesn’t just make people laugh. It makes them think. Belinda Raffy works with people with a passion for something – and a need to communicate that passion – to help them be funny. She says people can use comedy or improvisation to circumvent ingrained perspectives and challenge business as usual thinking – and it works.
Laura Thomson
How human values can trump AI in the workplace
About this episode
This time we meet the rather brilliant Laura Thomson, a workplace learning expert who spends her time training people to maximise their potential. Laura has been closely monitoring the rise of robots in the workplace and is confident that the value of humans – in our creativity, our curiosity, our ability to care and empathise, and the way in which we can collaborate with each other - should not be ignored or underestimated in the face of the smarts and efficiency offered up by robots.
Hubbub
How to get your customers to actually give a damn about the environment
About this episode
Meet the man at the helm of Hubbub, a charity that knows how to get people excited about environmental issues. And it has the projects to prove it.
Plus, our news round-up including stories on Toyota, Impossible Foods, timber and nano-farming.
TYF
Can we build a better world through play and adventure
About this episode
Andy Middleton gives a resounding ‘yes’ in response to the question posed in today's show – can play help to create a better world?
Through his organisation TYF – an adventure and activities-based business located on the Welsh coast – he believes getting people away from their desks in towns and cities and better connecting them to the natural world is the best way to encourage innovative, creative and sustainable thinking.
Andy shares with us his vision for connecting the rules of nature to the way we design our businesses – and why we need to put our values at the heart of what we do (and why play is so crucial to that process).
Human rights
KMPG
Human rights: Where to start and how to protect your business
About this episode
Human rights: It is the one issue that no company wants to be embroiled in – yet a subject that every business is almost certainly exposed to and at risk of. That’s why we’ve dedicated this episode to the subject and we’re super excited to have grabbed Richard Boele, KPMG's head of specialist human rights and social impact group, to appear on the show.
Divine Chocolate
How the giant plans to solve the global food crisis
About this episode
As Fairtrade Fortnight kicks off, we speak with Sophi Tranchell, CEO of Divine Chocolate, a unique business majority-owned by the Ghanaian farmers at the end of its cocoa supply chain.
Fairphone
From ethics campaigner to smart phone business
About this episode
This time we’re in the company of Bibi Bleekemolen, impact development manager at Fairphone, the smartphone business with a difference.
How did this campaigning organisation go from banging the drum on supply chain ethics, to launching a smart smartphone with a super transparent supply chain – no mean feat of the often murky world of conflict minerals and widespread human rights abuse? We ask Bibi to reveal all.
Leaders
Jonathon Porritt
Despair and hope from the world’s most famous sustainability activist
About this episode
Jonathon Porritt does not like to describe himself as a ‘greenie’ – not least because his work over the past 40 years has been as much about tackling economic, social and strategic issues as anything else – but he continues to bang the drum for progressive thinking, in politics, business and beyond.
And, as you’re about to find out during our extensive and wide-ranging interview this week, he continues to despair at the lack of government intervention in supporting companies of all shapes and sizes to get on the right path towards sustainability – describing as "utterly pathetic", the UK government’s insistence that letting companies make voluntary commitments is enough to transform the economy.
Andy Middleton
Can we build a better world through play and adventure
About this episode
Andy Middleton gives a resounding ‘yes’ in response to the question posed in today's show – can play help to create a better world?
Through his organisation TYF – an adventure and activities-based business located on the Welsh coast – he believes getting people away from their desks in towns and cities and better connecting them to the natural world is the best way to encourage innovative, creative and sustainable thinking.
Andy shares with us his vision for connecting the rules of nature to the way we design our businesses – and why we need to put our values at the heart of what we do (and why play is so crucial to that process).
Tony Juniper
A new foundation to atone for environmental sins
About this episode
This time we catch up with Tony Juniper, the former director of Friends of the Earth who is now supporting the world’s biggest paper company as it continues to make up for previous environmental sins. Tony sits on the advisory board of Asia Pulp & Paper’s new Belantara Foundation, a brand new finance mechanism designed to channel the rights funds into protecting the Indonesian rainforest. Will it work? Tony explains all.