Vivobarefoot - 2023 impact report review

Several people have recommended I read Vivobarefoot’s impact reports and so I was excited when this year’s integrated report was published.

 👍🏻 3 things I like...

1. OPEN AND TRANSPARENT

The whole tone of the report is open and transparent – and they get specific. Four things that jumped out at me because of being different to many other businesses: 

  • Their “fantastic failures” get as much exposure as their “champagne moments”.

  • They share some of their “greenwashing c*ck-ups from this year:”

  • Their Value Chain Map and Transparency Tree. I love that they’re happy sharing things that are a work in progress, not waiting until they’re complete before making them public.

  • Honest that they could have managed the company restructure better and there are lessons to be learnt.

2. CONSTANTLY PUSHING FORWARD 

They’re not afraid to innovate and set ambitious targets and try new things and don’t appear to take “no” for an answer. For example:

  • They are trying to challenge a traditionally dirty industry with a high negative impact – they’re developing a detailed quantitative understanding of the impact of their products and have set ambitious targets.

  • Where they have shoes that can’t currently be re-sold because they’re marked, they’re looking at how they can die these using organic plant based dyes.

3. AMBITION TO CREATE A FULLY INTEGRATED REPORT 

I like the way they’ve approached integrated reporting and why.

“Each of the frameworks we looked at had their own strengths, and we noticed that where some had gaps in social, governance, or environmental topics, other frameworks filled them in. So we decided to consolidate them all in one single voluntary framework we’re calling ReFrame”

 The framework could be a bit overwhelming (384 indicators from 9 frameworks!) but I recommend checking it out.

❓3 questions it raises 

1. DOES A FULLY INTEGRATED REPORT MAKE IT LESS ENGAGING?

The challenge with doing an integrated report like this is that it ends up being very long and detailed – does that restrict the number of people who will read it?  For example, it contains the financial accounts – will this put some people off?

Some of the questions for me are:

  • What is the purpose of this report?

  • Who is the target audience?

  • How many people do access the online report?  Which type of stakeholders?   

2. WHY IS REPEAT PURCHASE WITHIN A YEAR A KEY SUCCESS METRIC?

One of their key metrics is “Retained Customers. The proportion of last year’s customers who purchased again within the financial year.” 

How does fit with the concept of regenerative business? I had my last pair of Vivos for over 10 years. The repeat purchase metric is one commonly used by more traditional businesses that are focusing on selling more and more “stuff” into the world. So it feels at odds with their overarching vision and purpose.

This metric is related to their “building community” pillar and I wondered if this could have been better measured in other ways?

3. HOW DO THEY DECIDE WHAT TO FUND THROUGH THE LBF FUND?

I like that The LiveBarefoot Fund also funds internal innovation projects. But how do they decide what comes within scope of this fund vs core business investment?

Is the fund a charity? The Charity Commission database suggests not. Corporate funds / foundations often are set up as charities and that could further complicate the governance around this.

***

You can read the report for yourself here and let me know what you think.


If you’re preparing to write your own impact report, you might find my FREE Impact Reporting Roadmap helpful:

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