The current and future state of sustainability in retail was one of the hottest discussion topics at Autumn Fair 2022

Autumn Fair is the UK’s leading marketplace for wholesale home, gift and fashion in the run up to peak season for retail. Its where the top buyers, merchandisers, designers and manufacturers from across the globe gather and where the hottest products get selected for Christmas trade.

Georgia Bell, co-cre8’s Sales and Marketing Manager, was invited to speak at the Products for Change panel discussion, held during the show, to debate the current state and future of sustainability in the retail sector. Also featured on the Panel was moderator Helena Mansell Stopher, from Products of Change, alongside the inspiring Tom Savigar, futurist and founder of Avansere. The ensemble explored some of the biggest topics impacting retail and the planet right now, including reframing business as a service, ESG values, and the importance of material innovation in the sustainability conversation.

The show also marked the debut of Honest Bottle on the consumer scene as the team embarks on a mission to drive the UK’s reuse economy into action with a mission to not only provide consumers with its recycled PET reusable water bottle, but increase the number of active and accessible free, public water fountains across the UK.

According to Georgia, “All of this is about systems and systemic thinking. Don’t blame plastic, blame the way that we use it. We’ve been exploiting it and using it by ways in which we use it once and just throw it away”

WATCH NOW – What is the Future for Sustainable Retail?