Retail 2025: How Molton Brown, Mamas & Papas and N Brown are taking ESG seriously

This was a key theme that emerged from Retail Week’s annual flagship report Retail 2025, produced in partnership with Zebra Technologies.  

Based on exclusive in-depth interviews with 43 leaders from 39 retail brands, the report provides critical insight into the conversations happening across UK boardrooms right now.  

Below, we have highlighted four case studies looking at retailers making a noteworthy effort to boost their sustainability efforts.  

Ramping up refills at Molton Brown 

The beauty and cosmetics brand has set itself an ambitious goal that, by 2030, 50% of what it sells will either be reusable or refillable, highlighting the company’s ambition to significantly reduce its environmental footprint this decade. 

Body and hand washes, which make up 50% of Molton Brown’s sales, already have refill options with 40% of body washes sold either as a refill pouch or in an aluminium refillable bottle, according to EMEA general manager James. 

The company’s manufacturing facility in Elsenham, Essex, has been using renewable electricity since 2016 with ambitions to achieve carbon zero in the future. 

But the senior team are aware that there are costs to absorb now before sustainability becomes a commercial driver, particularly because glass and aluminium are more expensive than the brand’s traditional packaging materials. 

Anjun Murari, vice-president of global sales channels and strategic development at Molton Brown, adds: “We‘re trying to incentivise more customers to buy into sustainability. 

“For example, in our pouches, we offer the customer around an 8% saving. So, we’re taking a double hit. We’re always trying to find the balance between the level of investment in the product versus the pricing, and how much margin hit we take in the short term versus the long-term good of the category.” 

He adds: “People that are buying pouches and refillables, their lifetime value is about 15% higher than people that are not. So, those customers that are currently buying into sustainability are clearly bigger fans or becoming bigger fans and more loyal to the brand and, actually, spending more often, by about 15%.” 

N Brown’s top-down commitment 

N Brown has established an internal Sustain programme to cover its ESG work, driven by the senior team and embedded organisation-wide. 

Within the plan, N Brown is working towards having all own-brand products sustainably sourced by 2030, focusing on using responsible materials and reducing greenhouse emissions in line with scientific targets. By 2025, it hopes to have cut out materials sourced from endangered forests in its viscose and packaging. 

There is a commitment through Sustain for N Brown to work more closely with suppliers. Importantly, the senior team is realistic and acknowledges there are huge challenges for the wider industry to overcome in order to make significant progress. 

Chief executive Steve Johnson says: “We’ve made our commitments, and I think that’s probably the key thing – sustainability is something that we are committed to. 

“It’s important to recognise that some of those bigger commitments on net zero become quite difficult when you get to scope three. And there’s still work to do across the industry to resolve that.” 

Scope three emissions are those created by partners in a retailer’s supply chain, and therefore the retailer is not directly responsible for them. One reason for increased supplier communication and collaboration in recent years is to tackle scope three. 

According to N Brown, 47.1% of its product mix is deemed “responsibly sourced” and it has established an internal forum to keep improving in this area and advance its ESG agenda. 

Mamas & Papas’ circularity play 

Baby and parent products retailer Mamas & Papas continues to roll out initiatives to support a more circular economy within its operations. Chief executive Nathan Williams recognises that the business can keep goods in circulation for longer, support good causes and help people find more affordable products in a challenging economy. 

Since launching its clothing take-back scheme in June 2022, which allows consumers to return any unwanted garments they have via the retailer, Mamas & Papas has ensured two tonnes of baby clothing has been sent to Oxfam, much of it sold on to fund the charity’s good work. 

And in September 2022, the retailer launched a preloved pushchair service, encouraging consumers to donate their used prams for resale, as well as allowing them to get products repaired rather than thrown away. 

Some 25 used pushchairs are being sold each week by the retailer, with profits going to its charity partners, according to Williams, who also wants to extend the repairs service to other product lines to further boost the company’s circularity credentials. 

Commenting overall on environmental progress, Williams notes: “While the business grew by 15% last year, our scope two and three emissions reduced by 18%.”