Introduction Malcolm Rands started ecostore with his wife Melanie in the basement of their home in an eco- village in New Zealand in 1993. Living in pristine nature with some of the purest water on the planet, the community set themselves the ambitious task of keeping the water leaving their land as pure as the water coming into it. Soon, it became apparent that such a task was too ambitious even for an environmentally conscious community. Organic gardening did not seem to represent too much of a challenge, but clean water discharged from their houses did. Further research revealed that the harshest chemicals, from which the community was so desperately trying to protect the external environment, were present in common household products such as dishwashing liquids, laundry detergents, shampoos, conditioners, soaps and moisturisers. The shock was further exacerbated by a discovery that manufacturers were not in fact obliged to inform their consumers about the chemical compositions displayed on product labels. This revelation contributed to a light-bulb moment for the young couple who instantly identified a gap in the market that lacked to provide environmentally sound products to its potentially green consumers. Hence the idea of ecostore was born. Initially, the company experimented with "traditional" alternatives, such as white-vinegar-baking-soda-borax recipe, but they were not satisfied with the effectiveness of these alternatives. These chemicals were often too difficult to get and one of the chemicals (borax) turned out to be quite toxic. The company started with a few basic products and slowly developed its market presence through catalogue sales before setting up production for a multi-million company that now defines trends in quality and effectiveness of household green products in New Zealand. Twenty years later, ecostore represents a leading brand in the New Zealand market and the company also sells their products in the Australia, USA, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Japan, and has a full time business unit developing new markets globally. Malcolm Rands - known as the 'ecoman' - shares his philosophy and company's vision on countless occasions to various audiences around the country and overseas. castore's headquarters can be found in a sophisticated location in Auckland near its manufacturing line EcoTech Solutions that nowadays gives jobs to over 50 employees. The development of new continuously improved formulas is led by a young bright scientist Huia t, The company also has a close and trusted relationship with one of the country's most distinguished formulation chemists, Sir Ray Avery who assists in developing the product philosophies alongside Huia ti and Malcolm Rands. ecostore's products are manufactured in a factory with the most stringent environmental certifications of any factory in Australasia. For example in 2009, ecostore was certified to Diamond Environmark- the strongest environmental program available the New Zealand and in 2011, its manufacturing processes became CarboNZero certified recognising the company's efforts to reduce climate change. Apart from this, ecostore consistently collects awards such as New Zealand's Capstar blue award for Most Satisfied Customers in the laundry category (2012, 2013, 2016) or Green Ribbon awards for sustainable business leadership in 2015. ecostore - innovation and value driven company ecostore's products can be found in all major supermarkets across New Zealand. They are easy to spot next to conventional lines of household cleaning, personal and skin care products with their black and white bottles emphasising consumer modesty in lifestyle choices contrary to the colourful and overstimulating themes other multinational products offer in order to catch consumer attention (see Figure 1). ass fr ecostore ecostore ecostore Figure 1 Examples of ecostore's cleaning and cosmetics products (source: http://www.ecostore.co.nz/) ecostore represents a brand that sources healthier products, without toxic or unnecessary chemicals, and has a commitment to delivering high quality products that work just as well as or better than mainstream brands. Through adoption of a precautionary principle into its product development process ("if there's any doubt about the safety of an ingredient, we'll leave it out and find a safer one", the company dedicates its efforts to omit the use of any harmful chemical even if there is just a small doubt or a lack of knowledge on the impact of chemicals or ingredients used in its formula. In the beginning, store teamed up with experts to start developing laundry products based on a 'health first' philosophy. These efforts haven't stop twenty years later as ecostore consistently seeks to evolve and keep up with the development of green household cleaning, personal and skin care products performing equally or better than its conventional counterparts. This approach enjoys a genuine appreciation from ecostore's customers who regularly give feedback, reporting on improved skin conditions, and reduced asthma and sneezing after switching to the company's product portfolio for household cleaning. Use of chemicals in the industry Petrochemicals are not only detrimental to the environment but also to human health. There are around 80,000 chemicals used around the world. On top of this, there are approximately 1000 new chemicals developed every year. Legislation is falling behind with these innovative developments and there is no mandatory testing needed for these products before they are sold. Consumers most often do not know or understand what kind of chemicals appear in a bottle of laundry detergent or any cleaning product because manufacturers are not obliged to disclose such information on the product label. As these chemicals penetrate most households and everyday lives, links are being made between these chemicals and health concerns such as hormone disruption, allergies, asthma, and even cancer. Not all chemicals used in the household and personal cleaning industry are bad and it is often hard to decide what is safe to use and what is not. Common ingredients such as the following still have suspect effects on humans and the environment - sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), CocamidoprXl betaine (CAPB) and triclosan. However, despite the potential health risks, most "green" personal and household cleaning products still include the above mentioned chemicals to achieve certain desired characteristics, such as appropriate amounts of foam, antibacterial properties and desired fragrance. Remaining true to its Precautionary Principle, ecostore, commits not to use any of such ingredients even if the ingredient is categorised as plant-based or natural. Table 1 summarizes the nature and the use of the four most commonly used chemicals in most personal cleaning products by ecostore's competitors as well as health concern ranking by a reputable non-for profit organisation Environmental Working Group (EWG). Apart from efforts to develop products that are not harmful to human health and the environment, there is still an issue concerning the product packaging. How can ecostore truly be an eco-friendly company when everything that is sold is contained in plastic bottles? Apart from adding to the already high volumes of plastic that enter and pollute the ecosystem, plastic bottles are a sad reminder of our dependence on crude oil and exploitation of non-renewable resources. Although ecostore prides itself on using fully recyclable plastic that is commonly accepted as the best plastic available on the market, there is a clear and ever-present challenge to identify new forms of packaging that can step away from the reliance on petroleum-based packaging associated with greenhouse gas emissions. Currently ecostore, uses mostly high quality packaging produced from high density polyethylene (HDPE). In brief, HDPE is blow- moulded plastic used to make containers for household chemicals such as washing-up liquids and drums for industrial packaging. Polyethylene (PE) is made by several methods via polymerization of ethylene, which is principally produced by the cracking of natural gas. In 2013, Pat Durham - ecostore CEO - learned about the existence of a new technology, which sparked his interest instantaneously. This new technology is based on a novel method of producing polyethylene, which is derived from sugar cane via bioethanol. This method carries a number of advantages such as carbon sequestration, utilization of peat lands and the possibility of sustainable sugar cane growth. Furthermore, green polyethylene holds the same characteristics as polyethylene from any other source and therefore is fully recyclable. Pat started to ask questions on how this opportunity could be further developed by ecostore He recalls this critical moment in a discussion with ecostore's R&D manager: Pat: "If this is so amazing, and such an amazing story then why aren't we using it? If this is the right thing to do shouldn't we be doing the right thing?" R&D manager: "I suppose it hasn't really been a priority and to be more precise, it was due to our reliance on sourcing materials by our bottle converter Our converter had been relvina on historical relationships to New Zealand based polymer distributors. They were not able to SQHKce Bio plastics at that time. Also the way material cost per kilo, was prohibitive in comparison to petrochemical derived HDPE. Stabilitu testina gave us the confidence that Bio HDPE was a direct replacement for Petro HDPE" Pat: "Well what would cause for it not to be a priority? If it's the right thing to do, shouldn't we be doing the right thing? So what are the hurdles?" Essentially the process starts from sugar cane which is transformed into ethanol, then ethylene, and finally it becomes 'sugar polyethylene' as illustrated in Figure 1. However, no one had really looked at converting to green packaging in the way ecostore at the scale ecostore was planning to adopt despite the prohibitive cost of the material. Although there was no immediate need to introduce major changes to their packaging, ecostore's values embedded in its culture that prides itself on innovative, pioneering, and visionary projects, became an inviting exercise to evaluate whether or not to pursue this new challenge. What was the full spectrum of benefits that could be gained as a result of introducing green packaging into costore product portfolio? How could Pat strategically align his plans to develop ecostore into a global company and how could he introduce a major change to the production line at the same time? What impacts could such a change in product have on the market? What does ecostore, need to know about this technology? Where and with whom could ecostore team up to start the production of sugar cane-based PE plastic packaging? Key manufacturers of bioplastic The world leader in the field of biopolymers is company called Braskem. Braskem is an innovative company that heavily invests into innovation in petrochemical products. It is the 8th largest resin producer worldwide and the world's leading biopolymers producer generating 200,000 tons of Green PE plastic made from sugarcane-based ethanol. Braskem earns $8 billion in export sales, owns 650 patents around the worlds, produces over 16 million tons per year, invested in 8 pilot plants, owns 36 plants around the globe and annually funds $92 million into innovation. Braskem started producing green PE on commercial scale in September 2010. The market values this product highly because it is obtained from a renewable source while retaining expected performance characteristics of a traditional PE. Apart from using green sources and renewable materials, what ecostore found even more attractive, was Braskem's bold attitude distancing itself from land grabbers that force people off their lands and sell sugar cane to corporations. Braskem decisively was looking into ways how to establish confidence into supply chain and they identified a significant amount of peat land that was not useful to grow anything but sugar cane, which grew perfectly there. These factors stood up as positives confirming to ecostore that Braskem was true to its values and has developed a truly responsible supply chain. Table 3 An overview of potential partners to introduce Carbon CaptureTM Pak Company Company website Braskem is a Brazilian petrochemical company braskem.com.br/usa beadquartered in So Paulo. A publicly listed Braskem compnax with rexenue of 54 billion BRL (2015). FKUR TOYOTA TSUSHO toyota- tsusho.com/english/ FKUR is a privately owned company based in fkur.com/en/ Germany. Established in 1992, the company has been growing its offerings in bioplastics Toyota Tsusho Corporation is a sg shsha, a member of the Toyota Group. Toyota Tsusho bas a worldwide presence through its manx subsidiaries and operating divisions, including over 150 offices, and 900 subsidiaries and affiliates around the world A publicly listed. company with revenue of 78.9 billion USD (2015). Braskem's Green PE has been awarded and recognized worldwide for its highly and very positive environmental balance. It considers the complete supply chain and removes up to 2.15 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere for each ton produced 4. Moreover, 80% of energy consumed during the production of green plastic comes from renewable resources 5. However, some initial research into cooperation with Braskem, ecostore uncovered some major challenges in pursuing the partnership. Braskem did not hold a licence to trade in the Asia/Pacific region and purchases would have to done through an authorised distributor, which escalated the cost to 530% over the traditional HDPE that was sitting at $2.20/kg. Essentially, despite this significant hurdle, Pat reflects on this situation in the following way: "If we put the price aside for the moment and we've said we'll either pay that or seek a better price - we'll look at to close the gap on what we are paying and if money was no longer an issue, would that be a good idea? And it was really unanimous and I said wow that would be unbelievable. So, we don't need money as our problem. Let's treat money as just a challenge." The next company that could possibly supply green plastic for ecostore was Ekut Ebut is based in Germany and became a significantly interesting prospect for ecostore as it had distribution rights for Europe, North America, and also Canada. Ekut seemed as technically highly competent company that was producing raw materials out of sugar that could be used for ecostore packaging. But unfortunately but was not using the pure sugar PE and was blending it with petrochemical-based plastic in order to achieve technical capabilities. Despite these limitations, ecostore's R&D department decided to work along Ekkur in order to learn about the production process and to ensure that ecostore could competently convert towards this new form of packaging. Similarly to Braskem, but did not possess distribution rights within Oceania and Asia Pacific region. It could only operate in Europe. At this time ecostore has been growing globally and was establishing offices in other parts of the world and should kut become a possibility to supply for ecostore, the company would have to identify ways around the distribution restraints. As ecostore was planning to establish its branch in Europe, this did not seem an insurmountable problem. From a cost point of view, costore was getting closer to the source and material cost dropped to around 50% of the original indicators yet still had a strong impact on the total cost of the final product. Apart from the financials, ecostore was still confronted with the unresolved problem referring to impure sugar PE produced by Ekur, Should ecostore proceed with Ebut if 100% sugar-based plastic cannot be supplied? How would this reflect on ecostore's values? ecostore now understands the process, distribution constraints within specific regions such as Europe, South America, and also who handles the Oceania/Asia-Pacific region which brought the company's attention to Toyota Tsusho. Toyota Tsusho is another significant player in the field of innovation and green plastic production. It is a Japanese trading company positioned in the Toyota Group since 1948 that has grown businesses in fields of infrastructure, chemicals, and food. Toyota Tsusho represents a 63 billion USD company and at the stage of ecostore's investigation, it was creating a strategic partnership with Braskem that involved production of sugarcane based plastic. Braskem and Toyota Tsusho were building in joint venture the twelfth plant for production of green plastic. This fact was another reassuring indication to Pat that ecostore is onto something strategically interesting. If Pat could only make the numbers work, ecostore could cause disrupt to the packaging market at least in Asia/Pacific market. But the question of where the sugar PE should be supplied from was still unanswered. If costore could source directly from Braskem, it could potentially cut distribution margins added on by authorised distributors. Toyota Tsusho has an Australian branch representing an agency with distribution rights in the Oceania region. Pat relying on 40 years of his international experience of restructuring and restarting companies, started to be looking further in the situation around possible supplies from Toyota Tsusho. He found there was 100,000 tonnes of stock sitting in Japan which seemed not to be selling as fast as expected for Toyota Tsusho. Perhaps ecostore could step in and establish strategic partnership between the two companies. But why would such a major player on the market that is worth 63 billion USD be ever interested to talk and negotiate with a small company like ecostore? Pat reflects on the strength of ecostore's culture that caught Toyota's attention: "It's like we don't exist on the beach - we're just like one of the grains of sand. But the point is, business people are business people and my conversation internally went along the lines that, as we were going through restructure, and given that as a small and successful company in New Zealand with a reputation for being ethical science based and trusted, then why wouldn't we continue to take up difficult challenges other companies would not have an interest in? To succeed as a global business, a packaging innovation such as carbon capture pak would create significant attention and most likely deliver a substantial shift in scale for the company. After all the company is financially strong, entrepreneurial and nimble, and most of all brave. And we could do it just for fun if we wished! Pat convinced the Toyota Tsusho representatives to meet with ecostore people and the two companies negotiated conditions of possible future partnership. The negotiations resulted in the outcome of 75% price premium attached to sugar PE packaging. This gap was still too high for ecostore to proceed and to fast forward the export of sugar PE. Furthermore, ecostore's demands for supply were only expected to reach 200-300 tons a year in the short term and the cost associated with this volume deemed to be too significant for a company with substantial growth plans.