The sustainability series: Krisi Smith from Bird & Blend

Can you start off by telling us a bit about you and your business?

I'm an entrepreneur, world renowned Tea Mixologist, and author. I am the Founder and the visionary behind my £10m business Bird & Blend Tea Co.

After working over 30 jobs in my 20s, and hating the 9-5 working for someone else, I decided to create my own business with a mission to be as ethical and eco conscious as it could be.

Establishing Bird & Blend from my mum’s back bedroom 12 years ago, we now have over 20 High Street stores, 250 employees and a ton of awards.

What do you need to think about when finding packaging for teas?

How we could make all of our packaging 100% plastic free and either recyclable or home compostable. We worked with a packing supplier to achieve home compostable tea packing and have led the way with our sustainability initiatives since day one of the business.

How do you achieve environmental transparency?

We've done this since the very start of the business - sharing our plans and eco initiatives with customers - and we continue to improve our environmental transparency as we grow. Our Ethics & Sustainability Lead ensures that our impact reports are published and accessible to all. We are very vocal and visible on our website and on social media about our eco pledges, our achievements and the partners and suppliers we work with.

Being a Brighton based company that ships internationally, are there any challenges that come with maintaining your eco-friendly mission cross-border?

Yes absolutely. It's finding a good balance between cost, shipping methods, customs charges and providing a good customer experience. We are always looking for more eco ways to ship internationally but are also committed to improving our UK shipping as well. For customers who live within the M25, their packages are delivered by Hived, a zero emissions delivery service.

Did the pandemic change anything for you? What's the next step in your sustainability journey?

During the pandemic, we moved everything online which sparked the growth of our D2C website. Since then, the digital side of the business has kept on growing, despite us opening upwards of eight new physical stores. We are passionate about physical retail, creating jobs, being part of local communities and giving back through our charity programmes both locally and nationally.

Krisi Smith is Founder of Bird & Blend Tea - find out more on their website. 

Is your business a B Corp? If you'd like to be featured as part of our sustainability series, get in touch with the Chamber team here. 

And, if you are working in sustainability or towards Net Zero in your business, find out about our Net Zero Champions group - the people working in business in Brighton who come together to share ideas, support and inspiration. 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk