Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480) made some significant strides in social impact and sustainability last year – and has set ambitious goals to continue that progress in 2024.

Top 40 supplier Koozie Group (asi/40480) has released its fourth sustainability and social responsibility report.

The Clearwater, FL-based company just released its fourth Keep It. Give It. social impact and sustainability annual report, detailing the accomplishments it’s made over the last 12 months.

“2023 marked a turning point for Koozie Group,” said Pierre Montaubin, CEO and a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of the most influential people in the promo industry. “We published our Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions for the first time, then proceeded to offset them, achieving CarbonNeutral company certification in September. We also reached a milestone with our well-respected KG Factor. We have our sights set on even more aspirational goals in 2024, and I continue to be proud of our teams and excited by what we can accomplish together.”

Developed with input from employees, the Keep It. Give It. program launched in late 2020 and focuses on three key areas: giving back to employees and community; safety and social responsibility; and environmental stewardship. The supplier’s annual report recaps year-end highlights in each area and outlines the company’s future goals.

Of note in 2023, Koozie Group achieved CarbonNeutral company certification on Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as on some Scope 3 emissions. Scope 1 and 2 emissions are direct GHG emissions that come from sources controlled or owned by an organization or are associated with the purchase of electricity, heating and cooling. The more elusive Scope 3 is a catchall category for indirect emissions up and down a product’s value chain and includes everything from employee travel, use and disposal of sold products to transportation and distribution of goods.

This year, Koozie Group said it plans to maintain its CarbonNeutral certification for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as increase the number of Scope 3 GHG emissions it measures, specifically focusing on waste generated, business travel and employee commuting.

Koozie Group also donated more than $200,000 in cash and in-kind donations last year, to multiple nonprofits, including direct support to charities chosen by employees. The supplier is continuing two giveback programs that benefit regional chapters of United Way and 4 Paws for Ability.

Other achievements in 2023 include:

• Maintaining Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certifications for all domestic facilities and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification for the Sleepy Eye, MN, facility, with more than 500 products made with paper from certified mills.
• Adding all test documents, including recycled content/water-bottle equivalency certificates, to product pages on its website and revamping its compliance page to encompass all product safety and social responsibility efforts.
• Completing its first Worldly (formerly known as the Higg Index) environmental assessment.
• Keeping 1.9 million single-use plastic bags out of the waste stream by receiving and shipping acrylic drinkware without them.
• Offering more than 600 products made with recycled or renewable resources.

In addition to continuing work on measuring and reducing GHG emissions, Koozie Group had two other large-scale goals for 2024: to improve its EcoVadis score by at least 20 points and to complete KG Factor surveys for 350 products brought over from IMAGEN Brands, the former Top 40 company that Koozie Group acquired in 2020 and fully integrated in March. Increasingly used in the promo industry, EcoVadis is a business sustainability assessment firm that evaluates and ranks companies across four key pillars: environment, labor and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

The KG Factor designation, which Koozie Group launched in 2020, identifies products whose designs lessen environmental impact through longevity. Essentially, an impartial third-party firm surveys end-users to determine what they would do if they received a Koozie Group product, why they would take that action and how long they would keep an item. Products receive a minimum score based on those answers receive the KG Factor label. The supplier noted in its 2023 sustainability report that it offers more than 1,600 products that carry the designation.

Based on reported 2022 North American promotional products industry revenue of $317 million, Koozie Group ranked seventh on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest suppliers in the industry.

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