Shifting Toward Sustainability with Alicia Lahey of Humble Snacks

Nov 2

Conscious consumerism has grown exponentially in recent years, with shoppers expecting more transparency and less waste from the brands they choose to support. While shifting towards more sustainable business practices obviously has a positive impact on the environment, there are also a number of benefits for your brand, which you’ll learn more about in today’s episode!

To help us explore this topic, we are joined by Alicia Lahey, Co-Founder and CEO of Humble Snacks, Canada’s first organic potato chip packaged in 100% plastic-free, compostable bags. We discuss Alicia’s experience in big food, why she and her husband made the shift to a more sustainable lifestyle, and why she didn’t want to launch her own brand unless it came in better packaging, plus so much more.

To find out how you can continue to innovate in the natural and organic snack category and ensure that your packaging mirrors the philosophy of your brand, you won’t want to miss today’s episode of EvolveCPG!

Key Points From This Episode:

Some of the challenges that come with adopting sustainable packaging solutions.
Why Alicia and her husband were so committed to creating eco-friendly bags.
Lessons learned from SunChips’ infamously noisy packaging.
A look at Humble’s partnership with A Plastic Planet to develop their plastic-free bag.
The importance of investing in plastic-free or plastic-neutral initiatives.
Limitations of compostable packaging and how Humble seeks to solve them.
How proving sustainable packaging successful will move the needle for larger brands.
Alicia’s take on the future of better snacking (and where there’s room for innovation).
Other product categories that Humble will expand into in the future.
The inspiration behind their ‘humble’ brand name.
Why communication is key when working with your spouse in your family business!
Hurdles Alicia and her husband had to overcome to get their product on shelves.
Valuable fundraising tips for other purpose-over-profit founders.
Identifying (and filling) a gap in the market for organic, light, crispy, skin-on potato chips.
Insight into Alicia’s research and development process for Humble Snacks.
How Alicia found her way into the CPG industry, starting with driving a truck!

Tweetables:

“I’m so grateful to be selling organic food to people, helping people eat better, to avoid GMOs, to avoid pesticides, but at the same time, it’s the Achilles heel of the entire [natural and organic food] industry: we’re all packaged in plastic.” — Alicia Lahey [0:17:08]

“At the end of the day, we’re in phase one of plant-based or bio-based materials. It’s going to continue to evolve, it’s going to get stronger, but right now, this is the next best step outside of traditional single-use plastic.” — Alicia Lahey [0:21:40]

“People often ask me, ‘Is the packaging proprietary? [Do] you have a P on it?’ The answer is no, and we would never want it to be because this is something we want to see all brands move to as soon as possible for the better of the planet.” — Alicia Lahey [0:32:22]

“The future of better snacking is going to continue with more sustainable options. That’s not just in packaging. Obviously, we want to see packaging go [green], but it’s going to go along with other health trends.” — Alicia Lahey [0:46:55]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Humble Snacks

Alicia Lahey on LinkedIn

A Plastic Planet

rePurpose Global

Modern Species

Gage Mitchell on LinkedIn