After a year of Zoom calls and missing out on those face-to-face connections, we’ve learned it’s the relationships, the human touch, that make our industry tick. All the digital tools in the world can’t make up for the power of a personal connection between brands and retailers. So it’s important to pick tools that support your brand’s goals by making it easier to do the work so you can stay connected to the people.

Envoy B2B empowers that connection. Brands can use Envoy B2B to build stronger wholesale channels by streamlining their processes with the all-in-one-place power of Envoy B2B to handle assortments, orders, education, and more during a season. That leaves brands and their reps free to focus on strengthening their retailer relationships and building deep connections with their buyers.

BioLite knows. They’ve been using Envoy B2B for a year and a half, and have seen the improvements it can bring to their business. The folks at BioLite know that Envoy B2B understands how to build powerful tools that go above and beyond in getting the job done, but also get out of the way so they aren’t bogged down jumping through technical hoops. BioLite uses Envoy B2B to modernize its wholesale channel, create more efficient processes and build better relationships with its partners and retailers.

Jonathan Kosakow, director of sales, outdoor wholesale at BioLite, recently shared some thoughts with us on how BioLite supports its retailers, and the positive impact that Envoy B2B has had on its brand.

Focused on Value, Not Floor Space

BioLite takes a unique approach to its market by offering only items that will impact the business of its retailers.

“We are not into making a lot of ‘fluff’—accessories that sit on a shelf and turn slowly—as a tactic to get more real estate on the sales floor,” said Kosakow. “We offer a more curated line, and hope to make the retailer’s job easier because they aren’t constantly testing new items and balancing stock. They can feel comfortable investing in the entire brand, knowing that what we offer is likely going to sell.”

Success Through Service

Retailers sell more of what they know. BioLite is keenly aware of this, and has focused heavily on providing valuable services to its retailers for the last few years.

“We’ve invested time and money into making sure that our sales reps know all the ins and outs of our products to make sure that retail staff know how to talk about them,” said Kosakow.

Digitally enabled rep teams are able to make better connections with their retailers. They can offer valuable clinics, insightful follow-ups on orders, and use Envoy B2B to deliver an educational destination for retailers.

Envoy B2B Elevates BioLite’s Retailer Experience

BioLite is earning its spot on the shelf by empowering its reps to work towards the mutual success of its retailers. The educational tools provided by Envoy B2B are a key component of that strategy.

“The Envoy B2B platform, fully branded to BioLite, offers our reps and retailers a destination that can be used as a single source of truth,” said Kosakow. “This has been incredibly helpful in a time when reps weren’t able to get into stores. Aside from the traditional uses of a B2B like ordering, paying, and tracking shipments, we use the B2B site to host training modules for store staff to learn about our products and our brand. It also acts as a repository for essential assets and materials our retailers need.”

Building a Better Wholesale Channel

BioLite has seen incredible success in using Envoy B2B to adopt a more modern approach to its wholesale strategy. By integrating a digital e-commerce platform that aligns with its values and strategies, the brand has been able to create more efficient processes and build better relationships with its partners and specialty retailers.

BioLite vetted nine different B2B providers on the way to choosing Envoy B2B. None of them was able to provide the tools BioLite needed to accomplish its goals.

“Most of the platforms we looked at appeared to be easy to use,” said Kosakow. “But when it came to Envoy, not only was it easy to use, it was also easy to adopt and work with. Every question we threw at Envoy, the company answered.”

It took only two months from that decision point to get BioLite up and running with a fully branded B2B site, and less than two weeks to integrate with the brand’s NetSuite account.

“Envoy became an extension of the BioLite experience through customization. This was a key feature for us,” said Kosakow. “Just like a booth at a trade show, our wholesale platform environment needed to feel on-brand and have the same level of quality and usability as any other BioLite product. Envoy accomplished that through customizing it to our look and feel.”

The Human B2B

By modernizing its wholesale channel with Envoy B2B, BioLite is now able to focus on growth, stay true to its values, connect with its people, and drive its brand forward. The company has digitally empowered its sales reps, which allows it to deepen retailer relationships. It has also streamlined many processes, including order follow-up and payment processing.

BioLite thrives by focusing on its retailers, not its processes. The company relies on Envoy B2B to do the heavy lifting in its wholesale channel.

The post How BioLite Uses Envoy B2B to Supercharge Its Wholesale Strategy appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

There are jobs—and then there are jobs. You know the ones: the gigs that make coming to work about so much more than punching the clock and collecting a paycheck.

The ones that fill the workday with camaraderie, a sense of purpose, and just plain fun. It shows in the policies and perks a company offers, in ways big (health insurance, parental leave) and small (ski days, free gear). And they pay off—big time—for employers, who can count on loyal, productive employees who feel invested in the company’s success.

Here are just a few of the ways leaders in this industry go above and beyond for their workers. We hope employers and employees alike will consider this a menu of inspiration for greater workplace satisfaction. To say the past year has been a challenging one for businesses across the industry is an understatement. But despite all the hurdles, we still wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. This is why.

We asked industry members to nominate their workplaces for providing a superior employee experience. After combing through all 165 responses, these are our favorite ideas worthy of imitation.

Play șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű

CASE STUDY: Darby Communications, Asheville, NC

As any veteran of summer camp knows, getting out into the wilds together builds lasting bonds. So this boutique PR firm throws an annual staff campout, taking employees on a (paid) overnight excursion that has included paddling to an island campsite, fly-fishing lessons, tubing, and whitewater rafting over the past four years. “It builds community on our team, so there’s a deeper connection between us,” said Vice President Angie Robinson. The pandemic forced the team to cancel last year’s trip, but Darby replaced it with smaller outdoor gatherings, and when it’s safe, “We’re planning on a blowout camping trip to bring back the tradition in a big way,” said Suzanne Hermann, media relations director.

Pro tip: The financial barrier to this sort of retreat is low, points out Robinson. Camping is cheap, and Darby takes advantage of its clients’ gear and services (like whitewater guiding), so the total cost is only $200 to $300 per year for nine employees.

Bring Community to the Cafeteria

CASE STUDY: Skratch Labs, Boulder, CO

Every month, 29 full-time employees of nutrition/sports drink company Skratch Labs are invited to a communal breakfast at the office, courtesy of founder Allen Lim. Some staffers play sous chef, helping whip up Lim specialties like savory rice porridge, breakfast salad, and egg tacos. “In the same way that a family is closer when they share meals around the table, we are a better team when we do the same,” said CEO Ian MacGregor. Since last spring, the communal dining has shifted to live cooking lessons for employees at home. “We prep and ship all necessary ingredients to each of our team members, then we all get on a massive video call and learn to make something,” said MacGregor.

Pro tip: Even if you don’t have a full kitchen or a cookbook author for a founder, as Skratch Labs does, you can still break bread as a team: Think regular takeout gatherings or voluntary potlucks.

Embrace Inclusivity

Brands across the industry are beginning to meet the moment by ramping up DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts. 

Hit the Slopes

In what other industry do you get formal permission to go skiing when the pow is fresh? Here are just a few of the businesses that allow—nay, encourage—playing hooky on a snow day: Backbone Media, BoldBrew, Burton, Hala Gear/CKS Online, Meteorite PR, and Stio.

Commit to Fighting Climate Change

CASE STUDY: BioLite, Brooklyn, NY, and Peak Design, San Francisco, CA

BioLite (maker of camp stoves and lights) and Peak Design (a camera gear and travel bag brand) took their sustainability missions to the next level in 2018 with the launch of their Climate Neutral nonprofit. The organization helps other brands measure their total carbon footprints—from sourcing to manufacturing to shipping—and then offset them with carbon credits, earning certification. In 2019, 146 companies joined the program, representing a sizable commitment to reducing carbon emissions. “Climate Neutral makes me so proud to be a part of the organization,” said BioLite Ecommerce Operations Manager Joseph Caravaglia. Hyden Polikoff, treasurer at Peak Design, agreed: “I want the place where I put my time and effort to embody my values.”

Get Creative when Challenged

CASE STUDY: Mustang Survival, Burnaby, BC

When the pandemic hit last March, industry members counterpunched. Mustang Survival was one of them, switching from making its usual dry bags, drysuits, and ocean racing gear to churning out hundreds of thousands of waterproof/breathable protective gowns for healthcare workers (many other brands swiftly did the same with masks and eye shields). Not only did the pivot provide crucial PPE to hospitals across Canada, but it also allowed Mustang to hire 50 new employees (31 of them were still with the brand as of press time). “We set up a school and ran new hires through extensive training on sewing and taping,” said Mark Anderson, VP of engineering. “They learned skills directly transferrable to the apparel we make.”

Be Generous with Vacation Time

CASE STUDY: Roads Rivers and Trails, Milford, OH

Every winter for the past six years, as long as she’s been working at specialty retailer Roads Rivers and Trails, Manager Olivia Eads (pictured below on Pikes Peak) has taken at least a month off work to go climbing. Owners Bryan Wolf, Joe White, and Emily White highly encourage it with unlimited (unpaid) vacation time for all staff. “We get the shifts covered and we make it work,” said Wolf. In 2019, employees averaged 40 days off apiece—“and that’s just outdoor trips, not Christmas,” Wolf noted.

Welcome Fido

Embracing pups in the office— when we go back to the office, that is—pays off for both dogs (more walks) and employees (research shows that the presence of a furry friend reduces stress and boosts self-esteem). A few businesses that make room for our best friends: Arc’teryx, Kelty, Nemo, Ruffwear, and Xero Shoes.

Spread Profits Around

Some workplaces give everyone a different kind of promotion. All employees at șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű (OBJ’s parent company) get stock options, which increase with strong performance or a promotion. “It’s critical for creating alignments [between employees and the company] and incentives,” said CEO Robin Thurston. When the company does well and hard work pays off, employees benefit, too.

Encourage Exploration

CASE STUDY: Cotopaxi, Salt Lake City, UT

How’s this for an antidote to job turnover? After 18 months, employees of this B Corp apparel and gear brand can cash in on their first of two “bucket list stipends”: $1,000 to use on a dream trip anywhere in the world. After five years, the reward bumps up to $5,000. Recent employee trips have included touring Morocco, cycling the French Alps, and a fish-spearing, coconut-gathering survival excursion on a remote Caribbean island. “Number one, we need to be able to attract and retain talent, and this is a unique perk,” said founder and CEO Davis Smith. “And secondly, we want to make sure our employees are living the values of the business. We’re building a brand around adventure and exploring the world.” Cotopaxi has spent nearly $100,000 on its bucket list payouts so far, he says, but, “These things pay for themselves—you don’t have to pay higher wages to convince someone to join the team, or [deal with] rehiring.”

Pro tip: Cotopaxi helps employees make the most of their trips by holding learning sessions on topics like getting involved in local communities and traveling on a shoestring budget. “Within the team, there’s a constant sharing of travel deals,” said Smith. “If you keep your eye on deals, $1,000 can cover a trip somewhere really fun.”

Get Gear in Our Hands

CASE STUDY: NRS, Moscow, ID

Paddling gear can be expensive, as NRS’s employees well know. But lack of capital won’t ever stand in the way when someone pulls a rafting permit, thanks to the brand’s “company use” stash of rafts, frames, coolers, stand-up paddleboards, inflatable kayaks, and drysuits. Employees can check out the gear for free. “We’ve had employees go on Grand Canyon trips, and they were able to get everything they needed and disappear with it for 18 days,” said Steve Farley, key account manager. In 2019, 130 employees dipped into the stash for a total of 880 checkouts.

Pro tip: Appoint someone (or a small team, as NRS does) to manage the gear sign-out process and keep items clean, safe, and organized.

Give Us Long Weekends

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics offers half-day Fridays, and in summer, Outdoor Prolink switches to a four-10s schedule. Nobody’s head is really in the game at 3 P.M. Friday anyway.

Support Employees’ Life Goals

CASE STUDY: Outdoor Gear Exchange, Burlington, VT

Employees who get five years under their belts at this retailer have extra reason to celebrate: They qualify for its Living the Dream program, which awards a $5,000 grant for pretty much anything that makes their lives a little easier. “Originally, it was to go on a dream trip,” said Brian Wade, executive director of retail and service. But the list of acceptable uses has ballooned over the years to include down payments on homes, childcare, a new vehicle, or paying off debt. “I can’t think of anybody who hasn’t figured out a way to use it,” he said.

Pro tip: How does OGE afford it? “We just do it,” said Wade, noting that the total expense is a fairly small line item on the budget. “It’s nice to honor the people who’ve put in time. And the emotional impact of getting a lump sum is really great.”

Support New Parents…

CASE STUDY: șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű PR, San Francisco, CA

In a country where his seven-person PR firm doesn’t legally have to provide any break for its new parents, owner Gordon Wright instead offers the best parental leave policy we’ve seen in the industry: six months of leave at 80 percent salary, moms and dads alike. “It feels like the right thing to do,” Wright said. That kind of investment pays off in ways both tangible (an attractive carrot when looking for new talent) and intangible, says Senior Account Executive Kelsey McGraw. “Gordon and all the managers believe family comes first,” she said. “They care for my well-being, and I don’t want to disappoint them. I want to work that much harder to see this company be successful.”

Pro tip: Doing without a key employee for six months poses challenges, but Wright notes that hiring a freelance substitute can help any company keep chugging along.

…And Not-So-New Parents

CASE STUDY: Patagonia, Ventura, CA

Parents industry-wide could be forgiven for daydreaming about a job switch to Patagonia. For one, there are the on-site daycares (in Ventura and Reno), which together care for 200 kids and offer tuition discounts based on income. “Being able to nurse my son at daycare rather than pump every three hours was so huge,” said Amy Garrahan, southwest sales manager. And if a primary parent needs to travel for work while a baby is still nursing? Patagonia covers travel expenses for a caregiver. Pro tip: Half of the brand’s daycare program is covered through tuition; 75 percent of the rest is recouped via tax credits, improved productivity, and employee retention. Companies that can’t add their own programs can still help parents with daycare stipends and more flex time options.

Bond over Workouts

Good: allowing employees to head out for a midday sweat break. Better: organizing group runs, yoga classes, bike rides, and even surfing sessions (like Nemo does on the New England coast) during the workday for communal exercise, stress relief, and team bonding in one fell swoop.

Make Fitness Easy

CASE STUDY: Wolverine Worldwide, Rockford, MI

Spin classes, pickleball, pickup volleyball, and basketball: All in a day’s work at Wolverine. Opened in 2019, the on-campus, 29,000-square-foot The Rock facility also offers an indoor track, group fitness classrooms, and cardio equipment. Plus, membership is free for all 600-plus employees of eight brands. “Not only does it help in getting people excited to work for Wolverine, but having a variety of activities available is really key for blowing off steam,” said Merrell Senior Marketing Manager Lauren King.

Pro tip: Building an entire gym might not be in the cards. “But figuring out things that might not cost a lot of money, but add a lot to culture, is.” See #16 and #18 for ideas.

Give Cash for Ski Passes

Or gym memberships, yoga classes, and other wellness perks of choice, as sales agency Caraway & Co. does ($150 per employee per year).

Invest in Employee Healthcare

CASE STUDY: Waypoint Outdoor, Seattle, WA

Perks like gyms and company bike rides are great, but a real commitment to employee health should be built on a foundation of high-quality, affordable health insurance. This sales agency for brands like Klean Kanteen and Smartwool takes that to heart, covering 100 percent of premium costs for its employees. That’s made a huge difference for sales rep Carly Morava, a cancer survivor who’s been with the company for three years. She’d wanted to switch careers from retail to repping, but was afraid she wouldn’t be able to afford the insurance she needed. Unlike other workplaces she’d considered, Morava said, “Waypoint pays for everything, and it’s a really good plan.”

Help People Climb the Ladder

CASE STUDY: KEEN, Portland, OR

In a workplace just as on a mountain, sometimes the right guide can make all the difference. That’s why Keen added formal mentoring to its benefits. The Career Compass Program matches eager employees with seasoned volunteer “coaches” for structured career advice and development. Pairs meet twice a month to set goals and track progress. Though the program is open to everyone, says Global Communications Manager Mindy Montgomery, women make up the bulk of the participants—“Research shows that women utilize formal mentoring programs more because men have greater access to informal mentoring opportunities,” she noted. Senior Compliance Specialist Elsa Clements credits the program with helping her land a promotion in 2019. “It was super-valuable in giving me confidence,” she said. She worked with her coach on strategies for putting her best foot forward, and “It was really good for me to have that framework when I sat down with my manager.”

Pro tip: Career Compass facilitators consider applicants’ communication style and personality when setting up pairs. “If the participant and coach have trouble communicating, they’re going to have a hard time forming a connection,” said Montgomery, “which is a crucial component to a successful coaching relationship.”

Support Education

Help us advance by springing for certifications, courses, conferences, and skills clinics. Take Vail Resorts: Employees can apply for a $2,500 Educational Ascent Grant to fund a college degree (vocational to Ph.D.) or certificate (such as EMT).

Let Employees Drive Improvements

CASE STUDY: Hydro Flask, Bend, OR

Hydro Flask holds its own kind of holiday two or three times a year: the Better Future Day. Each one features a menu of activities for employees to choose from, all conceived and planned by fellow employees. Recent options have included guided meditations, art workshops, public speaking courses, and SUP sessions. “It could be anything from, ‘It’s time to reorganize our shelves’ to ‘Let’s bring in an expert on a topic like racism and have a difficult discussion,’” said Lucas Alberg, senior manager, PR and brand communications. Continually working on company culture is a bedrock value for Hydro Flask, says Senior HR Generalist Ryan Combellick, “but if it’s something that’s just coming from the top down, it can feel forced.”

Pro tip: Don’t overthink the scheduling, and just do it. “There’s never a good time for this, but it’s imperative that you make it happen,” noted Alberg. “Productivity may be lost that day, but it’s taking one step back and two steps forward for the company.”

Encourage Clubs

Supporting an employee resource group (ERG), a club dedicated to a particular identity or interest—from working parents to sober employees to members of specific ethnicities or religions—cultivates belonging and community. VF Corp. has put significant resources into its ERGs since 2017.

Make the World a Better Place Far Away


CASE STUDY: Superfeet, Ferndale, WA

When this insole brand decides to give back, it goes big. Superfeet donates 1 percent of its profits to charity, including an ongoing public-health service trip to Guatemala to build latrines and rainwater-capture tanks for small rainforest villages. “I wanted our employees to be engaged with the charities we’re working with,” said Director of Outreach and Fit Jeff Gray, who runs the program. “How can we get down on our hands and knees and get dirty and make a difference? It’s about writing the check, then also diving in.” The brand has taken eight to ten employees on the (fully paid) trip for the past four years, an opportunity that has proven so popular that Gray has to pull names out of a size-17 running shoe to select participants. Superfeet’s commitment to nonprofits builds loyalty and helps attract employees, said Gray: “So many are grateful to be able to work within this culture.”

Pro tip: Got the cash—or the time—to donate? Choose beneficiaries carefully, says Gray. He screened a number of nonprofits before choosing six to support based on how well their core values matched Superfeet’s. “Then you can build that relationship, bond, and do some great work together,” he said.

…And Closer to Home

CASE STUDY: Big Agnes, Steamboat Springs, CO

For a company making gear tailored for use on the trail, volunteer trail maintenance felt like a natural way to live out brand values of land stewardship and community involvement.

So Big Agnes zeroed in on the Continental Divide Trail, which passes within two miles of company HQ, officially adopting the 72 miles from nearby Rabbit Ears Pass to the Wyoming border in 2018. Since then, the brand has organized several trail work days on their section every year. “It’s a cool opportunity to see the owners of the company really caring about our public lands, and [having] the employees be part of that,” said Product Developer Paige Baker. And though the point of the trail work is giving back, it doesn’t hurt brand image with customers, either, says co-owner Len Zanni, who notes that the marketing team produces blog posts and publishes catalog essays about the project.

Pro tip: Scale give-back projects according to your workplace’s size and goals. “Think about what you care about, then figure out what organizations or areas could use your help, and how much help you can lend,” said Zanni. “If you’re a smaller organization, maybe you can put someone on a nonprofit board, or donate money or time.”

Remote Work Policies that Work for All

When the pandemic ends, many will still appreciate the flexibility to work remotely. Evans says the best policies let employees work wherever they’re most productive. Her company, The Ready, traded its office for monthly stipends for home office upgrades, co-working spaces, or rent for optional group offices.

Fair Profit Sharing

Sharing success fosters an environment of collaboration, not competition. Email marketing firm ConvertKit diverts a chunk of its profits to a shared pool that’s distributed to all through a formula that gives a little extra to those with the longest tenure.

Employee Connection

One easy way to help build connection among virtual workers: Start meetings with a five-minute check-in, prompted with questions like, “What was your weekend highlight?”

Self-Set Salaries

Want employees to really feel they’re being paid what they’re worth? Let them choose their own salaries, like tomato-packing brand Morning Star has done for decades—and make all of them public.

The post 29 Ways to Build a Happier Company appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

After all but losing spring 2020 to the pandemic, retailers and consumers alike are looking for gear to get excited about in 2021. So excited, in fact, that we decided to add their votes to our ranking of next season’s top products. Together, we’ve pored over, narrowed down, and rated this year’s submissions to bring you the 50 most coveted products, ranked.

With all the supply chain disruptions and bleak sales during the pandemic, many brands and retailers are focused on selling through what’s currently in stock. So we opened up our TV50 nominations to select in-line products as well. They are indicated below with the label “Available Now.”

Breaking Down the Votes

How did we come up with this list? We received 359 submissions from 159 brands. Prices ranged from $2 (for a packet of energy gel) to $4,799 (for a kayak). We culled the list to the most interesting 65 products, then put these finalists out for a vote among three different user groups: our internal editorial team, a panel of retail shop owners, and consumers drawn from a group of superfans of BACKPACKER, our sister publication. Everyone voted on each product, assigning a rating from one (not interested) to ten (very interested).

Here are the top picks of each voter group.

TOP PICKS FOR RETAILERS: Big Agnes TwisterCane Pad; Nemo Roamer Double Sleeping Pad

TOP PICKS FOR CONSUMERS: PrimaLoft Gold with P.U.R.E. tech; Big Agnes TwisterCane Pad and Leatherman Free T4 (tie)

TOP PICKS FOR OUR EDITORIAL TEAM: PrimaLoft Gold with P.U.R.E. tech; Big Agnes Sidewinder bag

1. PrimaLoft Gold with P.U.R.E. Tech

$199 (for Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket, insulation pictured above)

THE PROMISE: This new synthetic insulation makes
a massive dent in carbon emissions.

THE DEETS: Patagonia’s Nano Puff will be the first jacket to feature the lightweight and highly compressible PrimaLoft Gold P.U.R.E. (Produced Using Reduced Emissions), a 100 percent recycled synthetic microfiber material. The production process saves roughly half the carbon emissions by binding the synthetic fill without heat, instead using an eco-friendly treatment to cure it with air.

2. Big Agnes Twister-Cane Bio Foam Pad

$50

THE PROMISE: This superlight pad (8 ounces) is made from sugarcane, not petroleum.

THE DEETS: For the first time, a closed-cell foam mat is made from renewable material grown with rainwater, reducing the industry’s dependence on EVA foam.

3. MSR Guardian Gravity Purifier

$250

THE PROMISE: Get pure water in minutes without breaking a sweat.

THE DEETS: The MSR Guardian Gravity Purifier uses two stages for purification. The hollow fiber technology removes viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, while the activated carbon reduces chemicals, tastes, and odors. The result: one liter of clean water in two minutes without any pumping. Bonus: no backflushing necessary, as the integrated purge valve does the work.

4. Leatherman FreeT4

$65; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Get a multitool with true one-handed operation.

THE DEETS: Twelve tools are accessible from the outside with simple magnetic closures, an architecture that eliminates fingernail use to deploy. Everything—from the four screwdrivers to the bottle opener—fit in this compact (3.6-inch) and light (4.3-ounce) package.

5. Osprey Aether/Aerial Plus 60L Packs

THE PROMISE: This updated version of a proven winner supports even heavier loads.

THE DEETS: The Plus version of the Aether (men’s) and Ariel (women’s) features a lighter frame that carries closer to the body to better stabilize heavy loads, yet remains breathable and comfortable. The lid detaches to convert into a daypack, or just to slim down the pack for shorter trips.

6. Primus Lite+

$115

THE PROMISE: Get a back- country stove for every kind of chef and every kind of meal.

THE DEETS: Versatility is the name of the game for the 16-ounce Lite+. It’s equally adept at quick-boiling (2:45 per half liter) and gentle simmering, plus it has a low center of gravity and even flame distribution. Bonus: includes a hanging kit.

7. Honey Stinger Protein Waffles

$27 (12 pack); Available Now

THE PROMISE: These snack waffles pack a protein punch.

THE DEETS: Now with ten grams of protein per pack, these anytime snacks aid muscle recovery and taste like a treat. Wild Berry or Apple Cinnamon filling is sandwiched between two thin, crisp waffles. Our taste testers keep asking for more.

8. BioLite HeadLamp 750

$100

THE PROMISE: It’s almost as bright as your car’s headlights yet weighs only five ounces.

THE DEETS: With six light modes, a burst option to briefly produce 750 lumens, and a 400-foot beam on max, this headlight screams safety and versatility. The battery lasts five hours using 500 lumens, but a full 100 hours on low, with an eight-hour reserve power mode and powerbank. Trail runners and mountaineers alike will love the constant brightness mode. Most lights using alkaline batteries dim, but the use of lithium batteries pre- vents the typical discharge curve and keeps the lumens in a steady state.

9. NEMO Roamer Double Sleeping Pad

$400

THE PROMISE: This plush pad for two is so comfy you just might forget that you’re camping.

THE DEETS: With four inches of open-cell foam and an R-value of six, this double-wide, self-inflating pad provides a deluxe mattress covered in soft, recycled polyester fabric. The included pump means speedy inflation.

10. Big Agnes Sidewinder SL

$280

THE PROMISE: It’s the ultimate sleeping bag for side sleepers.

THE DEETS: 70 percent of us sleep on our sides and now there’s a bag built
just for us. The Sidewinder contours to a side sleeper’s position while also allowing freedom of movement for rolling over. Even the foot box is contoured to the angle of the side sleeper’s feet. Body-mapped fill (650-fill DownTek with synthetic overlays near the hips and feet) optimizes warmth.

11. Klean Kanteen Food Boxes

$15-$60

THE PROMISE: These reusable, super-tough containers are ideal for storing snacks.

THE DEETS: Sold as a set or in three different sizes, these dishwasher-safe, stainless-steel storage containers don’t rust, shatter, or retain flavors (like plastic containers often do). The silicone lids are leak-proof and BPA-free, and the containers are sized for trail mix, sandwiches, or a whole picnic lunch.

12. PHOOZY Apollo II

$35; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Protect your phone in the wildest environments.

THE DEETS: If anything can protect your phone from the elements, it’s NASA space suit technology. The Phoozy combines a thick EVA foam with a patent-pending chromium thermal layer and UV coating that protects the battery from dying in the cold and overheating in the sun. The case is water-resistant and protects against drops up to eight feet.

13. POC Sports Tectal Race NFC SPIN Helmet

$250; Available Now

THE PROMISE: This helmet protects you during and after a biking accident.

THE DEETS: Thanks to a near-field communication (NFC) medical ID tag in the helmet, first responders can instantly read your medical profile via any NFC-enabled smartphone and use it to inform medical decisions when you’re unable to speak. The fully wrapped construction, combined with POC’s patent-pending SPIN (Shearing Pads Inside), silicone-injected pads, and precision straps, improves rotational impact and structural integrity, but the helmet still weighs less than 14 ounces.

14. Gregory Katmai/Kalmia 50-65L

$260 (55L)

THE PROMISE: This pack moves with your body to provide ultimate comfort.

THE DEETS: The Katmai (men’s) and Kalmia (women’s) packs feature a ventilated, suspended mesh backpanel that cradles your lower back for fit and comfort. The customizable 3D hipbelt hugs the body and decreases rubbing and hotspots.

15. Six Moon Designs Wild Owyhee 2P Tent

$600; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Even the tallest campers can sit up straight under this tarp tent.

THE DEETS: The dual-pole design affords 48 inches of headroom, and not just at the center point. Two doors and vestibules offer convenience, storage, and access. The No-See-Um mesh skirt perimeter provides full ventilation and bug protection, and of course you get complete rain protection, all for just one pound.

16. Patagonia Provisions Cacao + Mango Bar

$27 (12 pack); Available Now

THE PROMISE: This natural fruit bar breaks the granola bar mold.

THE DEETS: Our testers say these bars make you feel like you’re on a tropical island, thanks to the organic blend of sun-dried mangoes, cacao nibs, bananas, and almonds. The pocket-size bar delivers 140 calories.

17. Black Diamond Capitan MIPS Helmet $100

THE PROMISE: Maximum head protection doesn’t need to be hot, heavy, or uncomfortable.

THE DEETS: With a sleek, cradled fit and plentiful brain coverage, the Capitan is cool and comfortable without compromising noggin protection. The MIPS technology absorbs and redirects oblique impacts to the helmet.

18. SPOT Gen4 Satellite Messenger

$150

THE PROMISE: This one-way communication device stands up to the roughest elements.

THE DEETS: The newest SPOT Gen4 messenger has an upgraded outer casing and water-resistant rating (IP68), plus prolonged battery performance, all for less than four ounces. The new mapping option stores more than 50 waypoints for tracking.

19. Cusa Coffee

$6 (seven pack); Available Now

THE PROMISE: Get gourmet coffee on the go.

THE DEETS: Cusa took the instant tea world by storm a few years ago, and now it’s jumping into the instant coffee game. For cold or hot brew, just shake or stir with water for ten seconds to dissolve the blend. We got a sneak taste test and the verdict is thumbs up! Available in a variety of roasts and flavors.

20. Voormi Diversion Hoodie

$249; Available Now

THE PROMISE: It’s the cozy, stink-resistant hoodie you’ll reach for over all the others.

THE DEETS: This 21.5-micron merino wool jacket is reinforced with nylon fibers and finished with a DWR coating to deliver protection against the elements. Features include integrated thumbholes, a chest pocket with a headphone port, and a relaxed fit.

21. LEKI Cross Trail 3A

$150

THE PROMISE: These poles are purpose-built for both trail running and backpacking.

THE DEETS: At just over a pound per pair, the three-section Cross Trail 3A is a light and strong aluminum-shafted pole with a glove-like grip/strap system to help runners sail down the trail or trekkers power up big climbs, all while keeping a relaxed hand.

22. HOKA One One Clifton Edge

$160

THE PROMISE: The unique heel geometry creates a smooth impact and an un- matched gliding sensation.

THE DEETS: The newest Hoka debuts a lighter top layer of midsole foam paired with a radically extended heel section to absorb heel strike forces. The weight is just 7.2 ounces per shoe with 26mm of cushion in the heel and 21mm in the forefoot.

23. Big Agnes Goosenest Inflatable Cot

$150

THE PROMISE: This inflatable camp cot (pictured upside down to show the structural design) gets you off the ground for comfortable snoozing and packs down small for easy transport.

THE DEETS: The perimeter tubes elevate it 8 inches off the ground and stabilize the sleeper in the middle of the cot, even on uneven ground. The antimicrobial treatments inside the chambers prevent mildew, odors, discoloration, and degradation. At less than three pounds, it transports easily.

24. Superfeet Trailblazer Comfort Insoles

$50; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Give your feet extra protection and comfort on the trail.

THE DEETS: This insole enhances the stability and comfort of any trail runner or boot and offers retailers a great upselling opportunity. Built with heel impact technology, shock-absorbing, dual-comfort foam, and a carbon-fiber stabilizer cap, these will turn the miles into smiles.

25. Therm-a-Rest Air Head Pillow

$43 – $48; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Get a better night’s sleep with this lofty but light synthetic pillow.

THE DEETS: Backpackers will hardly notice the extra 5.6 ounces, but they’ll appreciate the comfort of this four-inch-thick baffled inflatable pillow after a long day. It comes in two sizes and is shaped to fit into the hood of a sleeping bag. The brushed polyester outer is machine washable.

26. Vasque Footwear Satoru Trail LT

$150

THE PROMISE: This minimalist shoe protects and supports like a midweight hiker.

THE DEETS: The Satoru Trail LT strips away everything but comfort and versatility. With zero drop for a natural stride and a one-piece molded mesh upper (no overlays, stitching, or glue), it’s lightweight but protective.

27. Cotopaxi Teca Calido Hooded Jacket

$150

THE PROMISE: A little bit casual, a little bit technical, this colorful jacket diverts scrap textile from the landfill.

THE DEETS: Made from a combination of repurposed and recycled materials, this two-ounce insulated wind- breaker is sure to pop off the rack. It’s also reversible. One side features Cotopaxi’s signature color-blocking; the other a more subdued solid hue.

28. Matador SEG42

$190; Available Now

THE PROMISE: This load hauler combines the best features of a backpack, duffle bag, and packing cubes into one.

THE DEETS: With five zippered compartments, this 42-liter travel bag keeps you organized. Carry it like a pack or stow away the shoulder straps and use the top or side straps for duffel duty. It’s carry-on compliant and the nylon shell is durable and water resistant.

29. GSI Outdoors Lite Cast Frypan

$29

THE PROMISE: Get cast-iron performance without the weight.

THE DEETS: Traditional cast iron fry pans are heavy, but, at three pounds, this thinner, ten-inch skillet is 30 percent lighter than most. The polished cooking surface prevents sticking and eases cleanup.

30. Smith Lowdown 2 CORE

$129; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Eco-conscious adventurers will wear these shades with pride.

THE DEETS: Created from recycled plastic bottles and castor oil plants, these are glasses you can feel good about. Even the microfiber bag comes from recycled single-use plastics. The polarized lenses reduce glare from sun and snow.

31. Kelty Grand Mesa

$130 (2P) / $190 (4P); Available Now

THE PROMISE: This spacious shelter won’t break your budget.

THE DEETS: Available in a two- or four-person version, this is an ideal three-season tent for entry-level backpackers. The color-coded corner pockets make setup a snap, and the large D-shaped single door and vestibule are roomy for easy entry/exit and gear storage.

32. Black Diamond Tag LT Shoe

$135

THE PROMISE: These approach shoes are so light and packable, they can send the route with you.

THE DEETS: The Tag LTs collapse readily into a flat package no bigger than their midsole, thanks to the two-way stretch polyester upper. A carry strap binds them together and the heel loop makes them a cinch to clip to your pack or harness once you reach the crag. They weigh 15 ounces per pair.

33. Danner Trail 2650 Campo

$140

THE PROMISE: This lightweight, breathable, and grippy low-cut hiker is built for hot, dry, and rocky terrain.

THE DEETS: The Campo’s EVA midsole provides welcome cushioning and drainage ports, while the Vibram outsole easily tackles the desert’s sandy and uneven surfaces. The mesh upper and multiple drainage ports in the toebox and heel provide airflow and breathability to beat the heat.

34. LifeStraw Go 1L

$45

THE PROMISE: Fill, filter, and drink with this affordable, all-in-one device.

THE DEETS: The lightweight, reusable LifeStraw Go 1L bottle has an internal membrane microfilter along with a carbon filter, which combine to remove bacteria, parasites, and harmful chemicals from up to 1,000 gallons of water.

35. Kurgo Tru-Fit Enhanced Strength Harness

$45; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Keep your best friend safe, both in the car and on the trail.

THE DEETS: This multitasking harness works for standard walking as well as for clipping your dog into your car’s seatbelt system for safe road tripping. With steel hardware and five points of adjustment, the harness passes crash tests designed for child restraints.

36. Helinox Incline Festival Chair

$120

THE PROMISE: It’s the ultimate festival chair.

THE DEETS: The DAC alloy frame offers stability and support, and the sliding front feet adjust the seat angle for optimal comfort and positioning. The broad, flat contact points minimize impact on festival grounds and without legs, the three-pound chair keeps a low profile, so you won’t block the action for people sitting behind you.

37. Merrell Moab Speed

$120

THE PROMISE: Merrell’s best-selling shoe just lost some weight.

THE DEETS: The trail running version of this popular shoe keeps a low profile and weighs just over a pound per pair. The hybrid design tackles varied terrain with a Vibram outsole, ten millimeter drop, layered mesh upper, and padded collar.

38. Hydro Flask Outdoor Kitchen Collection

$20 – $75

THE PROMISE: Kitchenware that’s ready to rough it, but sleek enough for fancy backyard cookouts.

THE DEETS: Eight pieces, including utensils, bowls, and lids, nest into a tote for easy portability. The stainless-steel construction is easy to clean and the double-wall vacuum insulation keeps foods hot or cold during travel.

39. Granite Gear Dagger 22L Pack

$100; Available Now

THE PROMISE: It’s the ideal pack for ambitious dayhikers.

THE DEETS: The Dagger utilizes Granite Gear’s arch system to anchor the frame
to the hipbelt and distribute the load evenly. The 22-liter nylon packbag fits day trip essentials inside, but the stretch side and front pockets give it a little extra capacity.

40. Deuter Future Air Trek 50 + 10L

$250

THE PROMISE: This pack’s calling card is versatility.

THE DEETS: One pack for all: The ventilated mesh back and fit system adjusts to any body shape or size, while the detachable toplid lets you add or subtract volume. A U-shaped front zipper means you can get to any part of the pack quickly and easily. And a roomy side pocket is big enough for a hydration bladder.

41. Sierra Designs Nightcap

35°F $150 / 20°F $170

THE PROMISE: This zipperless bag is built with salvaged materials.

THE DEETS: Recycled, post-industrial fabrics that would otherwise go to waste form the 20-denier ripstop nylon shell, while the synthetic insulation is sourced from recycled water bottles. The bag has a self-sealing foot vent and an integrated pad sleeve.

42. Karukinka Tase

$329; Available Now

THE PROMISE: This will be the midlayer you reach for time and again.

THE DEETS: Combining three types of wool—alpaca, llama, and merino—into a single fabric is exciting, but comes at a high price point. All these cold-weather fibers have the overlapping benefits of wicking moisture and staying warm when wet, but the longer fibers of merino increase durability. Alpaca and llama fibers are hollow, contributing to the fast-drying and moisture-wicking performance.

43. șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Inside Explorer Essential Kit

$50

THE PROMISE: This kit is perfect for any kid who dreams of adventuring.

THE DEETS: Get your kids started early and safely with these essentials for exploring the great outdoors, whether it’s the backyard or the backcountry. The set includes a pair of binoculars, a legit orienteering compass, LED flashlight, a four-in-one whistle/thermometer, instructions, and a protective carrying pouch.

44. Bogs Footwear Kicker

$45

THE PROMISE: Life hack for parents: These eco-friendly, closed-toed kids’ shoes are easy on, easy off, and machine washable.

THE DEETS: Kids can use and abuse these shoes, all while keeping their feet dry, sweat-free, and less stinky. The new Bloom insoles come from algae blooms, which are dried into flakes and mixed with EVA to create a comfortable footbed, while also cleaning up water habitats.

45. Moon Fab Moon Shade

$350; Available Now

THE PROMISE: Versatile attachment hardware makes it easy to create ample shade whenever and wherever you need it.

THE DEETS: This portable, 420-denier polyester awning can attach to any vehicle or door frame (with heavy-duty suction cups) or even mount to trees, fences, and railings. When deployed, there’s nine by seven feet of coverage with UV protection and reflective coating. At eight pounds (including its own carrying case), it can easily go from ball games to campgrounds.

46. Odlo Active F-DRY Light Eco Sports Baselayer

$45

THE PROMISE: This fast-dry- ing tee is ideal for serious aerobic activity.

THE DEETS: Combining polypropylene with recycled polyester, this short-sleeved baselayer has a push-pull effect to regulate body temperature and keeps you smelling like a rose. And it’s ultralight at less than half an ounce.

47. EDELRID Tommy Caldwell Eco Dry CT 9.3 Rope

$300-$380

THE PROMISE: It’s a rope as eco-conscious as Tommy Caldwell himself, with the first and only dry treatment that’s safer for the environment.

THE DEETS: Available in three lengths with a 9.3-mm diameter, the rope coils without tangles and has extreme abrasion resistance. The bi-color sheath makes finding the middle a cinch. And the Eco Dry 100 percent PFC core and sheath dry treatment are free of the fluorochemicals commonly used to provide water- and stain-resistance to climbing ropes.

48. Level Six Freya Drysuit

$900

THE PROMISE: This women’s drysuit has a unique rear access so she can answer nature’s calls, quickly.

THE DEETS: The zipper for the rear relief area is designed to be non-irritating when paddling in a kayak, sitting on a raft, or standing up on a paddleboard—so basically comfortable all the time. The waterproof/breathable fabric is articulated for unrestricted movement, with reinforced knees and elbows for durability. The adjustable waistband system provides a precise fit.

49. MTHD Traverse Trail Run Short

$95

THE PROMISE: These men’s shorts are built to beat friction and irritation.

THE DEETS: A stretchy, 20-denier nylon paired with an underlying Polartec Power Dry polyester built-in boxer brief grants the flexibility and breathability runners need. A Polartec NeoShell pocket keeps your phone protected from sweat even while you’re Strava-ing a full day.

KEEN Ridge Flex Mid*

$170

THE PROMISE: These boots actually make hiking easier.

THE DEETS: KEEN says that the pliable TPU inserts at key flex points (across the forefoot and at the Achilles heel) in this midweight hiker require 60 percent less energy to bend. That saves energy and combats foot fatigue, but it also nixes break-in times and improves durability, as leather tends to break down earlier at flex points.

*This last-minute entry missed our deadline for voting but we love the innovation and suspect it would have scored well, so we’re including it here without a ranking. 

The post The Voice 50: The Hottest Gear of Next Season appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

With almost every company nowadays using greenwashing words like sustainable, eco-friendly, biodegradable, and nontoxic to describe products, it’s getting more complicated to separate the wheat from the chaff. But a new certification will accredit the true leaders, adding a layer of transparency and setting a higher standard for corporate responsibility.

Officially launched on Monday, Climate Neutral is a nonprofit program to help companies measure, reduce, and offset their full carbon footprint. And come 2020, companies who achieve net-zero are promised a Climate Neutral Certified label for packaging, hangtags, websites, and other marketing materials—like a “Certified Organic” sticker on a banana.

“BioLite started measuring and offsetting our carbon footprint in 2015,” BioLite CEO Jonathan Cedar said. “Through that experience, we came to realize that achieving carbon neutrality is faster, cheaper, and easier than the common perception. Flash forward to 2018 and our friends at Peak Design reached a similar conclusion, asking ‘why aren’t more companies doing this?’”

That was the impetus for Climate Neutral. BioLite and Peak Design first introduced the idea to other brands at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in June. BioLite, Peak Design, and Avocado are the three certified brands so far. Thirty-eight others—including Klean Kanteen, LifeStraw, Kammok, Miir, Rumpl, Sunski, Gear.com, and Tentsile—have signed commitments to monitor their carbon emissions in 2019 and start offsetting in 2020.

Peter Dering, CEO of Peak Design, said this time next year, he’s not sure if there will be 400 or 4,000 brands certified. But he hopes the “label becomes so ubiquitous that governments feel the political freedom to make it law that companies need to take responsibility for their carbon.”

Climate Neutral’s launch falls in the middle of the Global Climate Strike, when millions of Americans are demanding that lawmakers address climate change. According to a recent poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation, about eight in ten Americans believe that human activity is fueling climate change.

Researchers say solutions to reverse the climate crisis include depending more on renewable energy, planting trees, reducing food waste, and limiting methane releases.

“Consumer brands today offer many credentials to a prospective buyer, but none of them directly addresses the brand’s climate impact,” Climate Neutral CEO Austin Whitman said. “Even worse, most brands don’t know how much they contribute to climate change. Climate Neutral exists to address both of these gaps so that we can make headway in the climate crisis.”

Once a company calculates how much energy it uses—Peak Design offset 20,000 tonnes of carbon for $60,000 in 2017, according to The Denver Post—Climate Neutral will help certified companies trade in their carbon credits or connect them to resources dedicated to capturing methane gas from landfills or restoring degraded forests.

“You can afford to do it. You can’t afford not to,” creators of Climate Neutral said.

The post Peak Design and Biolite Create New Climate Neutral Certification appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

If it’s not a big-box store and it’s not an independent specialty retailer, then what exactly is it?

REI Co-op defies easy definition. It’s a builder of brands and a risk to them. It competes with smaller shops around the country while throwing its weight around to protect recreation access and grow outdoor participation. It’s a powerhouse that holds influence over its partners, customers, and politicians. And it’s a profitable business that isn’t totally profit-driven: annually, it gives back millions of dollars to co-op members in the form of dividends, and reinvests millions more into industry causes. Still, in some ways, it’s also a bully.

Undeniably, REI—with its 154-plus stores in 35 states and Washington, D.C., and six million members—is the big fish in the outdoor industry’s pond. And for every small retailer who bristles at yet another brand giving REI an out-of-the-gate exclusive on new gear, or company that feels compelled to target new products to an REI niche, there’s a brand hitting it big-time with the co-op’s help, or a nonprofit enjoying its largesse.

One thing’s for sure: the industry would be a very different place without it.

The Competitor

Independent retailers have always feared REI moving in next door, and that concern has deepened as the co-op targets smaller markets around the country. Case study: REI’s first New Hampshire location will open in North Conway, population 2,300, next fall.

Michael Scontsas, the manager of one of the last Eastern Mountain Sports stores, said he’s not sure what REI hopes to get out of North Conway, nor what to expect when EMS moves out of its current 20,000-square-foot building for a smaller footprint—and REI moves into the space. (EMS announced its plans to downsize first.)

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens because, you know, the pie is only so big here,” Scontsas said. “The other three gear stores are definitely going to feel an impact with REI coming to town.”

But according to a statement REI provided to The Voice, it isn’t out to steal customers: the co-op opens stores where member bases already exist. “When we add a new store, we help impact the outdoors positively, which tends to float all boats,” it noted, adding that REI invests in local communities where it has stores.

Rick Wilcox, president of North Conway-based International Mountain Equipment, doesn’t expect problems: “I think there’s room for everybody if [we’re] careful about what [we] do.” IME’s bread and butter includes specialty ice climbing gear that more generalist stores like REI don’t sell. That’s where problems start, he said—when a generalist store tries to sell specialized gear its customers don’t want, and then floods the market with discounted goods.

Changing times play a role in retailer attitudes, too. “A decade ago, REI was the number-one threat to mom-and-pop specialty retailers,” said Ross Saldarini, co-founder of Mountain Khakis (he left in late 2018). “Today, Amazon has replaced REI as the ecosystem threat.”

The Gatekeeper

To keep its offerings fresh, REI tries to get in on the ground floor with new brands whenever possible—a game-changing boost for a fledgling company. Kuju Coffee landed in all REI shops in September 2018, when the brand was three years old. Co-founder Jeff Wiguna says selling at REI gives instant legitimization to a new brand like his: “They are essentially the industry authenticator,” both to stores and consumers.

But that credibility has its price. To maintain its outdoor-focused product mix, REI requires brand partners to keep distribution tight—without much presence in big boxes or mass e-tailers.

“We draw the line at some stage—if [vendors] are ubiquitous, then that’s not specialty anymore,” said REI general merchandishing manager Marshall Merriam. “That’s when we start to pull away and say, ‘That’s not the best thing for our members.’ So yes, we push them.” That’s on Wiguna’s mind as he works to grow Kuju Coffee beyond the outdoor crowd.

REI was a huge boon to BioLite, too, which launched in 2012 and was scouted by REI while it was still selling direct-to-consumer only. When BioLite started distributing its CampStove in REI stores, it was too short-staffed to both manage the REI account and work to expand in independent shops. The company has grown exponentially since REI lifted them from obscurity, but co-founder and CEO Jonathan Cedar said the brand has found it challenging to break into specialty shops because they didn’t build the necessary relationships from the get-go.

“If I were to go back and do it again, I would probably put larger effort [on specialty retail] right out of the gate,” Cedar said.

What REI wants, or might want, impacts the rest of the industry, too. Brands angling for a spot within REI often develop products with that goal in mind, said Grassroots Outdoor Alliance president Rich Hill, who has previously held executive titles at brands like prAna, Patagonia, Marmot, and Ibex. And they don’t just think, “Will REI buy this?” but, “Will this specific buyer at REI want it?”

“It gets down to that level,” Hill said. “With clothing, is it technical or is it lifestyle? Which one of those departments will buy more? REI is a huge organization with tons of layers, and you have to be really specific when you go in there. People absolutely target their product development on the needs of REI.”

United by Blue CEO Brian Linton acknowledges his brand considers REI’s needs in the design stage. “They’re a significant player in the industry and an important part of our business,” he said. “But we’re also very careful we don’t let that overly dictate our product strategy.”

And Bill Gamber, co-founder of Big Agnes, said his brand’s partnership with REI is a bit of a balancing act. “REI has been a great partner, and supported us early on,” he said. “On the other side, REI can tend to try to control the direction of your brand, product assortment, and more. We just need to fight for who we are sometimes.”

The Changemaker

Because it’s so big ($2.62 billion in sales in 2017), REI has the budget to pack a lot of positive punch, like donating $1 million to create the Nature for Health program at the University of Washington in 2018; celebrating outdoor women of all sizes, skin colors, and ages with its Force of Nature campaign in 2017; and inventing the #OptșÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű movement in 2015.

The retailer is also in a position to make a huge environmental impact. Even as the industry publicly grapples with sustainability issues, brands aren’t facing many external pressures to do business more responsibly, either from legal standards or consumer demand.

But REI is stepping into this vacuum: in April 2018, the co-op announced product sustainability requirements for all vendor partners, including having a supply chain code of conduct regarding social and environmental standards. The co-op will also put the kibosh on long-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (commonly used in DWR treatments) starting in 2020, as well as on certain toxic flame-retardant chemicals used in tents, and sunscreen products made with oxybenzone, a chemical found to be harmful to coral reefs. REI requires all apparel and footwear brand partners to regularly complete a Higg Index Brand Module to evaluate their sustainability, and share the results with REI.

“We want to make sure that we’re aligned with the science, and that we’re reflecting the way that the industry should be headed,” said Greg Gausewitz, product sustainability manager for REI.

And many brands applaud the effort, even if it poses a challenge. Linton says the new standards are pushing United by Blue to address some issues, like Fair Trade and bluesign certification, sooner than it otherwise would have. “The standards they’ve set forth are by far the highest expectations we’ve seen from any retailer,” he noted. “I think it’s important for key retailers to do these things, so the industry makes progress faster.”

The Gateway

No one seems to dispute that one thing REI does better than most is broadening the outdoor base, converting more people into outdoor lovers by giving them an affordable entry into activities with high upfront costs. Not only do members enjoy dividends, special sales, annual 20-percent-off coupons, and access to garage sales, but REI’s in-house brand also offers products at a lower price point than many of its vendors.

That emphasis on affordability means that brands selling at the co-op should be wary of pricing, Hill said: REI can “love a brand to death.” Once a brand gets to the point where its products are sold in all REI stores, the co-op may ask them to discount gear for its promotional periods. “As brands participate more and more in the requested off-price activity, it can ruin the brand—not within the industry, but within REI,” Hill said, because customers quickly learn to expect discounts.

The Friendly Giant

“We should be thankful about [REI’s] willingness to participate in the outdoor industry the way they do,” Hill said. “They want us all to succeed. They do a lot of things that they don’t necessarily have to do, but they know it’s for the greater good. I give them credit for that.”

And unlike companies that must hold market value above mindful business practices, REI’s co-op model offers it flexibility for taking stands on issues and making investments that shape the outdoor industry and recreation for all.

So imagine that there hadn’t been an REI these last 81 years. The industry might be without a household name that has, in turn, helped build other brands into household names. We might lack a major power player that has helped to influence public policy. And what other retailer would have both the influence and the freedom from shareholders to force advances in sustainability?

Maybe someone else would have evolved to take on these roles. Then again, maybe not.

The post Is REI Too Big? appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Whenever Outdoor Retailer rolls around, it puts tons of outdoor brands on our radar. We find the latest products and hottest trends. But it’s also a time to be inspired by the companies that are doing fantastic things. Check out these five brands doing good across the globe.

LifeStraw

LifeStraw launched in 2005 and was designed for people in developing countries who don’t have access to safe, clean water and for those dealing with natural disasters when the water is contaminated. The “straw” removes nearly all microbiological contaminants that make water unsafe to drink. LifeStraw’s Give Back program vows that for every LifeStraw purchased, a child in need receives safe water for an entire school year. So far, 1,015,652 students have been given clean water.

GoLite

GoLite is teaming up with the leading international relief organizations to manufacture medical uniforms and to start micro-enterprise programs that are empowering local communities around the world. While GoLite doesn’t officially launch until 2019, the brand has donated 12,000 uniforms to Medical Teams International health workers who are helping hundreds of thousands of refugees in Uganda.

United By Blue

Since opening in 2010, United By Blue has removed 1,046,530 pounds from oceans on the entire planet. For every product sold from their collaboration line with conservation group Lonely Whale, United by Blue will remove one pound of trash from the world’s waterways and oceans. In lieu of Black Friday, the company launched “Blue Friday” in 2016 to encourage individuals to take one hour of their day to clean up neighborhoods or local parks. This summer, United by Blue is also embarking on a “Bluemovement Road Trip” where they’ll host 21 cleanups with retail partners and volunteers.

MSR

MSR just launched the MSR Impact Project, which aims to accelerate the global health work they’re doing, including provide access to safe water for countries without it. Since 2015, MSR technologies have made safe water possible for more than 500,000 people. The company also hosts MSR șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs for Impact for those wanting to take a trip to experience adventure while also devoting time in local communities to providing long-term solutions for water.

Biolite

BioLite creates affordable and durable items designed to cook, charge electronics, and light off-grid households by utilizing surrounding energy. The company works with partners across Africa and India to distribute clean energy products. To date, they have impacted almost 300,000 people worldwide. The BioLite BaseCamp generates electricity from fire, reduces smoke by 90 percent, and uses 50 percent less wood. The BioLite SolarHome 620 generates electricity from the sun.

The post 5 Companies Doing Good Across the Globe appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

BioLite began with a quest to give campers a better way to cook with wood—but call it a cooking company, and you miss the point. This brand’s true focus is developing energy for off-grid living, whether that’s in Yellowstone or Kenya. Because while some travelers prefer to unplug completely from connected life, residents of developing communities crave the kind of comforts—like light, and stoves—that only power can provide.

Early on, BioLite’s founders realized that improving wood-burning technologies could have an impact beyond the campsite. Approximately half the world’s population still cooks with wood, because they live in off-grid communities that don’t support the electric cooktops that are so common in American kitchens. So from the start, BioLite developed not only a camp stove that burned wood as efficiently as gas, but also home units that transformed daily routines for people living in remote parts of Africa.

Now, the company also makes lanterns, pendant lamps, pizza ovens, even solar panels capable of aligning themselves to the angle of the sun (which improves energy output by up to 30 percent). All double as chargers for travelers’ phones, cameras, and tablets. And they’re changing what you can and can’t do while hiking, camping, and van-lifing in remote places.

We caught up with BioLite’s co-founder and CEO Jonathan Cedar to hear how burning a few sticks ignited an energy revolution.

In 2012, you burst onto the outdoor scene as a kooky little wood-burning stove company. Tell us about the birth of your first product, the CampStove, and how it came to be.

The CampStove was born as a night-and-weekend project as Alec Drummond and I were working at Smart Design, the largest design firm in New York. He came to me in 2006 and said, “Hey, I’d like to build a wood-burning stove.”

Wood is a fuel that’s all around us—it just required better technology to use it effectively. We knew that if you insulate the fire to make it very hot, you could make it burn as cleanly as gas. But to do that, you need electricity to run a fan. So our idea was to harness the waste heat from the fire and use it to power combustion.

In 18 months, we had a prototype: you put sticks in it, and it would generate electricity to power a fan. We took that to a combustion conference and realized, oh my gosh: this is a much bigger problem than campers needing a better cooking stove. Half of the planet still cooks with wood, and in some places, smoke from those fires kills more people than HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. And we were leagues ahead of the other technologies that were aimed at this problem. So in 2011 we raised some VC to pursue a parallel business model that would target the camping and developing markets simultaneously. We launched the CampStove direct to consumer in 2012. We thought we’d sell a few thousand units, but we soon sold 30,000 units, all without advertising, through our website.

REI jumped on it too, scooping up all the stoves you could produce. Did that hurt you with independent outdoor specialty shops?

Yes and no. REI did amazing things for us, like taking out two-page spreads for us in Backpacker and șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű, and putting us on end-caps in their stores. They really put a lot behind us. We were their most successful stove launch ever, which earned us a nomination as Vendor of the Year in 2013.

Our production line was 100 percent booked for the year, and we didn’t even have a sales team. So we just weren’t in a position to service the hundreds of specialty accounts that came to us with interest. We had to say, “We will be able to work with you next year, but we don’t have the team to support you guys yet.” And to this day, BioLite has a great reputation for strong performance with larger retailers, but our inability to service specialty in our first year to market, that’s—well, we’ve been trying very hard to regain that trust.

Flash forward seven years, and BioLite has grown way beyond wood-burning stoves. Now you make a bunch of stuff that’s fueled by biomass. And what is that, anyway?

Biomass is wood. We call it biomass because we still talk like engineers [laughing]. We’ve always thought of ourselves as an energy company. That first product was a wood-burning stove that also generated electricity so you could charge a phone or LED light. So once we launched the stove, we worked on rechargeable LED lighting. And we understood that not everyone wants to charge their lantern with a wood fire, so we looked at solar as well. We built a portfolio of products that cook, charge, and light life beyond the grid.

Your new headlamp is particularly cool.

We wanted to push the same level of innovation that we brought to lanterns to headlamps—which have been slow to make the transition to rechargeable and incorporate advanced technology. We believe that rechargeables offer the potential for the greatest convenience and value. And there’s been a huge amount of technology developed that headlamps have not exploited.

For example, LEDs are tiny, yet headlamps are still very bulky. Everyone’s still borrowing from an artifact that was developed by coal miners 100 years ago. So we asked, how do we miniaturize headlamps? Our goal was to make them as seamless to wear as a pair of contact lenses. Something that lets you forget about the technology and just go about your business. We took our lessons from wearables, like the Nike Fuel band. Wearables are meant to connect to the body first—so for us, that meant re-thinking the interface first, and fitting the lighting into that.

Let’s pull back the curtain on the company. Why do you do what you do?

Energy is one of the most important tools we use to be productive, safe, connected and comfortable in the world. We think that’s a fundamental right—that everyone has energy to pursue their lives. Technology has advanced to the point where we can cost-effectively and durably provide energy to consumers [in emerging markets] that don’t have the resources to pay for it. Fundamentally, that’s what drives our business, and our mission.

Meanwhile, most of us at BioLite go camping, climbing, cycling, backpacking—and this is where we connect with this need for off-grid energy, when we go off-grid and recharge ourselves. As a business, it’s a synergy. The outdoor markets grow the company so we can invest really deeply in technology and in developing markets. And those developing markets help us improve our products for the recreational market, because if something holds up every day for years in a primitive home in Kenya, it’ll serve you on the trail.

What sparked your growth beyond recreational gear to community power?

From Day One, we wanted to pursue parallel innovations, and to amortize those investments across two markets. As a category, electronics in the outdoor industry have mostly been developed by climbing companies, like Petzl and Black Diamond. But those are not tech companies. When you go there, you see engineers making carabiners. BioLite is a bunch of electrical engineers. We are built like a modern technology company. That’s where the real innovation in personal energy is going to come from.

Tell us about your R&D process and what goes on in your Brooklyn, New York, headquarters on an average day?

We employ 65 people, half in the U.S. and half in Kenya. R&D is 50 percent of our U.S. team. Usually, we’ve got three or four development projects running at any given point. And the R&D process is unique in that we don’t set goals like, “We want to build a 500-lumen headlamp.” Instead, we tell our product team, “Go out and tell us what’s possible. What would really transform people’s lives?” We define our problems from a more user-centered perspective, so we’re coming to opportunities that can’t be found from a marketing-driven standpoint.

Is it more rewarding to outfit recreational adventurers? Or people living in emerging markets?

That’s a tough one. I love working on both pieces of the business. I worked on ski patrol in college, and spent two years teaching outdoor education on a 150-foot tall ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The outdoors is part of my personal DNA, so it’s satisfying to work on products for that sphere. But at the same time, it’s pretty amazing to walk into someone’s house in Kenya and hear them say, “You’ve turned my village into a city. You’ve given me a way to cook that doesn’t fill my house with smoke. You’ve given me lighting that opens up a whole new range of evening activities.” This is transformation. We’re helping off-grid families participate in modern progress, and that feels fantastic.

Where do you see BioLite going in years to come?

We’re all living more mobile lives. If you go biking in Iceland, you want to bring your tablet, so you can blog about it. And work is becoming more mobile. So we’re asking ourselves, how do we support a lifestyle that’s ever-more power hungry? We’re excited to step into the headlamp category with such a differentiated product, but we’re looking at all the ways that encourage mobile living off the grid, and we’re trying to invent the appliances that support that lifestyle.

Do you anticipate venturing out into other product categories outside of stoves, power, and lighting? Water maybe?

We do see things like water purification, refrigeration, even communication to be core energy-enabled needs beyond the grid. The goal is to be able to do everything you want to do on the grid, in an off-grid environment. Not that everyone has to travel that way. We’re not telling you to bring your whole urban kitchen to the backcountry.

But we do think that when you augment your ability to stay off the grid longer, you go farther. Running out of energy is experience-limiting. Our goal is to let people push the boundaries of their experiences and push frontiers that they may not have been comfortable or capable of doing otherwise.

What do you want to say to independent outdoor specialty shops about why they should take a fresh look at BioLite products for their stores and customers?

Independent shops are where a lot of customers go for innovative products. Innovation requires explanation. So there’s no better place for people to get information about new and innovative products than independent specialty channels. We [BioLite] can be a good way for shops to excite their customer base about what’s new and what’s possible. And shops offer us a way to provide comprehensive education to users that we just can’t do from our head office.

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