With Christmas being “The most wonderful time of the year”, most people look forward to pulling the traditional Christmas cracker over the festive period. These days more and more of us are also looking for sustainable choices.
Many of the best loved crackers are made by Heart and Soul Studio – a family run business based in Dorset, who have been creating a series of paper-made products for several decades. Whilst retaining their legacy as a cracker manufacturer, the business has expanded to now include a wide range of giftware and gifting products for all occasions. It has become their aim to introduce more sustainable choices for retailers and customers alike.
“Being environmentally conscious is very close to our hearts and we embrace it through our design, sourcing, and manufacturing processes."
"We always try to offer our customers the most sustainable choices, as we know we aren’t alone with our passion for sustainability” commented Kim Lam, Creative Director and Founder.
Both Kim and Co Founder Sam Lam have made it their mission to be as sustainably minded as possible, from reducing plastic, to introducing recyclable and recycled paper in their offerings.
“We have taken many steps over the years which we’re all very proud of. Yet, achieving FSC certification was always one of our biggest goals”, says Joanna Piecha, Compliance & Quality Control Manager at Heart & Soul Studio.
However, there was an obstacle in achieving that goal: the snap (the part of the cracker responsible for the festive “bang”). As pyrotechnics, the snaps were only manufactured by a handful of suppliers, usually in the far East, and FSC certified snaps were difficult to find.
After years of searching, Heart & Soul Studio found the final certified component and achieved their FSC certification in 2019, which rendered the company the first certified cracker-making business in the UK.
Getting certified required strengthening some procedures, training and getting used to the strict trademark approval process. But the efforts were worth it. A year later they manufactured their first bespoke FSC certified crackers.
Another important milestone was introducing FSC crackers into their retail range in 2021, which allowed more customers to buy certified crackers.
The team plan to offer more certified products in the coming years. Heart & Soul Studio’s Head of Innovation Aimée Lam says: "There is a lot of effort here going into designing sustainable products. Expanding the FSC selection beyond crackers is another important step for us. It demonstrates our commitment towards responsibly sourced products and helps us build a reputation with our customers and consumers”.
It is without doubt that the pressure is on nearly every business to respond to the increasing need to consider the impact on our environment through the products we buy and consume.
“Working with organisations like FSC has been really worthwhile for us and many others like us trying to do the right things. We would recommend certification as a way of keeping your future thinking moving in the right direction” concluded Kim.
This is a guest article written by the Heart & Soul Studio team. Click here to visit the Heart & Soul website.