From Cost to Competitive Edge Our journey to going green

With the ongoing cost of living crisis, the increasing conflict in the Middle East, and the general uncertainty that meets the world in 2025, it's no surprise that sustainability as a fashionable buzzword has slightly lost its impact. However, consumers still place significant value on sustainability when making purchasing decisions, as an April survey by Ipsos found. It examined the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors influencing the British public's purchasing decisions and revealed a growing awareness of sustainability among consumers, though ultimately price remains paramount when buying products or services. As a CEO, sustainability is not just the right thing to do, but it also makes good business sense. It's a strategic investment, and one that will only become more prevalent as consumers' buying habits continue to evolve and become increasingly eco-conscious.

Listen to the market
At Juice, we started our sustainability journey in 2020 when we removed all single-use plastic from our packaging. As a result, we saw a 12.5% increase in overall sales just two months later and subsequently saw our market share double between December 2019 and December 2020. Despite this, we wanted to go one step further and focus on our products themselves – not just the packaging. We knew we needed to change how our products were made and what they were made from to keep up with a more demanding and discerning customer base – so we did – all whilst keeping our prices exactly the same. So, in 2022 we launched our 'Juice Made Mindfully' initiative and became the first mobile accessories brand in the UK to use 100% post-consumer waste to manufacture every single one of our products. In doing so, we have saved a grand total of 519 tonnes of plastic over the last three years, including 257.5 tonnes saved during 2024 alone. By making this simple shift, not only did we win consumer trust but also helped drive measurable growth and strengthened trade relationships. For example, according to the latest GFK data [May 2025], Juice is the clear market leader in selling more cables than any other brand in the UK, while boasting 68% value share in the Apple Lightning Wall Charger segment.

Doing the right thing
The number of inhabitants on Planet Earth recently reached a new milestone of over eight billion. Whilst this provides fantastic opportunities for many consumer brands, there are significant challenges regarding sustainability. In the consumer electronics industry specifically, the amount of waste produced is staggering, with the average device lifecycle being just over 16 months. Little has been done to address this in recent years, however, increasing consumer demand combined with new legislation will force us to be more accountable. Although the introduction of sustainably focused taxes and government-led environmental policies has resulted in more businesses "going green", there are still too many organisations that don't value sustainability as highly as they do profits, and adhering to these laws alone won't encourage the level of environmental commitment needed to make a real difference.

Not only do we need to see leadership teams being more authentic, but brave enough to do the right thing. Certainly, through my leadership, I've had to make some risky decisions to align with our philosophy of "doing the right thing" – such as investing hundreds of thousands of pounds in making our packaging better for the planet – whilst not knowing whether our customers were going to care. Ultimately, consumers do care, and if we as business owners and companies make it easy for consumers to do the right thing, this will drive change – and change for good.

Think outside the box
Sustainable business practices shouldn't just be viewed as a 'tick-box' exercise or an unwanted cost, but a commercially viable investment that can make you stand out from the crowd whilst doing your bit to help the environment. From product design to manufacturing and transportation, every process within your business can be reassessed to lower your carbon footprint as much as possible. At Juice, we are developing new technologies that better meet consumer needs, including sustainability, faster charging, durability and increased convenience. As well as our long-term goal of manufacturing our products in the UK and carrying out all product development in-house, we want to allow consumers to make a more ethical choice. We will be launching our first repair service later this year, along with a range of products that will allow for the production of electricity – effectively taking mobile phones off-grid and allowing consumers to generate their own personal electricity to charge their devices.

Fly the sustainable flag
There's no doubt that consumers' sustainability consciousness is here to stay, so more businesses should be making groundbreaking developments and innovations in sustainability, allowing other companies to follow in their footsteps. As business owners, we have the resources and power to take more accountability for our environmental impact and transform the current standards within every industry – the more steps we take in this direction, the more positive impact we'll have on the world!

Research by consumer analytics provider Growth from Knowledge (GfK) not only showed that Juice had retained its position as market leader in 2024 for the fourth year in a row, but August 2024 was our best ever month on record in terms of overall market share, with more people opting for our products over any other mobile accessories brand in the UK. We should aim to lead the way and fly the flag for sustainability, continuing to develop products that make a real impact on consumers' lives – all whilst being a little bit kinder to planet Earth.