In all of our endeavors, we practice betterment: we seek to better both ourselves and the world around us, whether that be through our sustainable branding, our commitment to donating 10% of our profits each year, or our pro bono work.
As such, we’re honored to have been a certified BCorporation since 2018 and, more recently, to have been elected to a Fast Company Impact Council Member in 2024. These roles have allowed us to both expand the reach of our work and connect with like-minded individuals and businesses, with whom we can collaborate to achieve yet more positive social change.
As such, we’re honored to have been a certified BCorporation since 2018 and, more recently, to have been elected to a Fast Company Impact Council Member in 2024. These roles have allowed us to both expand the reach of our work and connect with like-minded individuals and businesses, with whom we can collaborate to achieve yet more positive social change.
a two-pronged approach
At the outset of the bread and butter, we committed to two objectives. The first was to provide strategic branding insights to our clients, and represents our core business initiative.
The second, however, has arguably become more important to the brand. We committed to sharing our resources and expertise freely, with the aim of using them to promote positive social change. To achieve this, we:
Through these dual approaches, we hope to leave a lasting legacy of positive change on not just the branding industry but society more broadly.
The second, however, has arguably become more important to the brand. We committed to sharing our resources and expertise freely, with the aim of using them to promote positive social change. To achieve this, we:
Work pro bono
for local community initiatives, NGOs, charities, small but promising businesses, social ventures, and fundraisersDonate 10% of profits
to charities, churches, and social initiatives.Boycott harmful industries
by not providing branding support to companies in industries that perpetuate widespread social harm, like tobacco or gambling.Provide sustainable branding
to our clients, to ensure they can go on to achieve lasting success.Model corporate transparency
by publishing yearly corporate and impact reports that breakdown our growth, projects, charitable endeavors and social work.Through these dual approaches, we hope to leave a lasting legacy of positive change on not just the branding industry but society more broadly.
social outreach
We’re eager to share our expertise with all those who could benefit from them, especially those who are driving social change and advancement within their own sectors.
This motivated us to set up our annual Global Week of Impact, where we offer branding insights to small businesses and creatives from around the world who seek to generate positive social change with their products or services, but lack the resources or expertise to realize this vision. This weeklong talent sharing program empowers participants by providing them with the practical skills that they need to capitalize on their brand’s potential and magnify the impact of their business, while also giving them a platform to connect with other similarly innovative entrepreneurs from all corners of the world.
This motivated us to set up our annual Global Week of Impact, where we offer branding insights to small businesses and creatives from around the world who seek to generate positive social change with their products or services, but lack the resources or expertise to realize this vision. This weeklong talent sharing program empowers participants by providing them with the practical skills that they need to capitalize on their brand’s potential and magnify the impact of their business, while also giving them a platform to connect with other similarly innovative entrepreneurs from all corners of the world.
Community Branding Support (Delhi, India 2019)
Cafe Branding & Design Support (Hanoi, Vietnam 2020)
New Business Branding Support (Dubai, UAE 2023)
Additionally, just as we are driven by a pursuit of betterment, so too have we sought to inspire this in others through our Betterment Project. This little box full of big ideas is a sustainable kit full of small symbols of much bigger commitments to social and personal betterment. Kidney beans, pellets of earth and a clay pot, for example, embody the symbiotic relationship between ourselves and our environment: by bettering ourselves, we better the world, and vice versa. After producing a first edition in 2021 in association with LAMY, we launched a second edition in 2023 to celebrate our 14th anniversary and reflect on this value of betterment that is so central to our business.
More broadly, we are also always eager to contribute to broader social movements. In 2016 for example, we worked to develop a slogan, brand story and a range of visual branding for CAUSE, a campaign to raise awareness of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals held in Seoul City Hall.
community support
We recognize that often the most tangible way to support underprivileged communities is to provide them with the money, education and resources that they need to achieve their own positive change.
One of the simplest but most impactful ways that we do this is by depositing 1/30th of our profits each month into our BNB Dream bank account. This incredible initiative redistributes funds donated by both individuals and organizations to help both local and global communities, nonprofits and underresourced people.
One of the simplest but most impactful ways that we do this is by depositing 1/30th of our profits each month into our BNB Dream bank account. This incredible initiative redistributes funds donated by both individuals and organizations to help both local and global communities, nonprofits and underresourced people.
UNICEF : SCHOOL-IN-A-BOX Support
ChariTea : Local Community Support
LitWorld : Children's Lantern Support
Community Support Donation (Sri Lanka)
Branding Support for Social Enterprise
Snack Support for Single Parent Children
Vietnam- Hanoi : Branding Support
Medical Supplies Support Donation
India- Delhi : Branding Support
charity : water Donation
charity : water Book Support
Tanzania- Zanzibar : Education Support
We also use our yearly anniversaries as opportunities to conduct this invaluable community outreach ourselves. In 2020, for example, we celebrated our 11th anniversary by working pro bono with Friends Coffee Roasters in Vietnam to turn their cafe into a communal space where disadvantaged young Vietnamese people could obtain skills related to the coffee and café industries. We also renewed and rebranded their packaging to better embody the cafe’s philanthropic spirit.
So Bold Coffee Bean Package
So Bold Message
So Bold Leaflet
Branding Support + Donation
Similarly, in 2021, we celebrated our 12th anniversary by partnering with charity : water, which has brought safe, clean drinking water to 660,000 million people in under-resourced countries. As part of this partnership, we bought and distributed 120 copies of its book, THIRST, which seeks to raise awareness about the urgent water crisis facing many areas of the world, and document the positive impact a fresh and reliable water supply has had on the communities that the NGO has worked with.
charity : water supporting message
120 THIRST books support
Our motivation to generate positive change within our communities and platform other brands and businesses that are doing the same is embodied in Grove Square, our own proprietary online marketplace. This platform features a range of carefully curated brands that all meet the highest standards of ethics and sustainability, including marc is brown, the bread and butter’s own brand of motivational notebooks.
If you would like to apply to have your brand featured in Grove Square, we invite you to get in touch and ask that you provide full transparency as to how your products are made and their social impact!
If you would like to apply to have your brand featured in Grove Square, we invite you to get in touch and ask that you provide full transparency as to how your products are made and their social impact!
environmental preservation
Here at the bread and butter, we are committed to modeling environmental sustainability, avoiding single-use plastic packaging and materials as much as possible and opting for sustainably-sourced office supplies.
We also use our branding expertise to support businesses making invaluable innovations and advancements within the sustainability sector. These include Tierra Fuerte, a coffee brand that we developed for CUNAVIR, a Peruvian farming collective within the indigenous Yanesha tribe. CUNAVIR models low-impact, biodiverse farming practices that enrich rather than deplete its region's natural resources. Our work with CUNAVIR was heralded a World Changing Idea by Fast Company Magazine, and won us an honorable mention in the 2024 Fast Company Magazine World Changing Ideas Awards.
We also use our branding expertise to support businesses making invaluable innovations and advancements within the sustainability sector. These include Tierra Fuerte, a coffee brand that we developed for CUNAVIR, a Peruvian farming collective within the indigenous Yanesha tribe. CUNAVIR models low-impact, biodiverse farming practices that enrich rather than deplete its region's natural resources. Our work with CUNAVIR was heralded a World Changing Idea by Fast Company Magazine, and won us an honorable mention in the 2024 Fast Company Magazine World Changing Ideas Awards.
When it comes to the environment, we quite literally walk the walk. In 2023, for example, we joined other US B-Corps like Ben & Jerry’s and LUSH to take part in the March to End Fossil Fuels during the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York. We not only marched in the demonstration, but also volunteered to distribute leaflets and support the well-being of the 75,000 protestors who also sought to voice the urgent need for meaningful climate action.
Similarly, we’re currently(October 2024) working alongside the Mongolian government to establish and brand Mongolia’s first ever series of smart farms. These farms hope to revolutionize Mongolia’s agricultural industry, where poor soil conditions have rendered fresh fruit and vegetables prohibitively expensive. Not only will this new brand improve the affordability of fresh produce and therefore the health of Mongolians, it will also generate plenty of jobs within this whole new industry.
We’re eager to continue using our resources and expertise to support the climate movement, and look forward to further opportunities to do so with other B-Corps. If you are involved with a climate initiative that would benefit from our involvement, we encourage you to get in touch!