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Saul Brown | Saul Good Gift Co.
93 Plays9 months ago
The conversation you’re about to hear is an Aisle 42 first in that it’s with a retailer, well, sort of. We chat with founder Saul Brown of Saul Good Gift Company—a B-corp certified, Canadian gift giving business that’s focused on locally sourced, sustainable or handmade artisan goods that we can be proud to share with friends, family, co-workers and clients.
Saul talks about the environmental travesty that is the traditional gift basket industry, the importance personalization in our online shopping experiences, and how their approach not only supports local artisans and ethical food makers but also helps us convey deeper appreciation and connection through the gifts we give.
Find your next gift delivery at https://www.itsaulgood.com.
Learn more about this podcast (and why we make it) here: https://www.ethicalfoodgroup.com/podcast
Here’s a summary of the interview:
Saul Good Gift Company's Origins: Founded in 2006, the company emphasizes locally sourced, artisanal products, focusing on sustainability and eco-friendly practices.
B Corp Certification: Saul Good was among the first businesses in Canada to receive B Corp certification, demonstrating its commitment to social and environmental standards.
Impact of Pandemic on Consumer Awareness: The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened consumer awareness about the importance of supporting local businesses, a principle Saul Good has championed since its inception.
Innovative Retail Experiences: Saul reflects on changes in retail environments, like grocery stores experimenting with sensory adjustments such as dimming lights and reducing noise to create a peaceful shopping experience.
Role of Music in Retail: Saul discusses the influence of music in enhancing or detracting from the retail and advertising experience, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach.
Gift-Giving as a Relationship Tool: The company uses gift-giving to foster relationships, with a focus on values-aligned, sustainable practices that tell a meaningful story through the gifts.
Customer Demographics: Saul Good primarily serves a diverse customer base, with a significant proportion being professional women aged 30-50.
Supporting Local and Small Businesses: The company not only sources from local artisans but also engages in creating a network that supports these small businesses, enhancing the local economy.
Sustainable Practices in Focus: Ongoing efforts include redesigning packaging to reduce paper use by 67% and using 100% recycled materials, significantly lowering the company's environmental impact.
Future Challenges and Opportunities: Looking ahead, Saul discusses potential sustainability challenges related to packaging and shipping, considering innovative solutions like bike courier deliveries for local orders.
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Transcript
Meet Saul Brown and His Vision
00:00:00
Speaker
This is aisle 42. The conversation you're about to hear is an aisle 42 first, and that it's with a retailer. Well, sort of. I had a chat with my friend and founder Saul Brown of Saul Good Gift Company, a B Corp certified Canadian gift giving business that's focused on locally sourced, sustainable or handmade artisanal goods that we can be proud to share with our friends, family, coworkers and clients.
00:00:30
Speaker
Saul talks about the environmental travesty that is the traditional gift basket industry, the importance of personalization in our online shopping experiences, and how their approach to not only supporting local artisans and ethical food makers, but also how they help people like you and me convey deeper appreciation and connection through the gifts we give. I hope you enjoy listening in and while you're doing that, as long as you're not driving or going top speed on your elliptic machine,
00:00:57
Speaker
Bookmark this website right now. Okay, here's Saul Brown from Saul Good Gift Company.
00:01:08
Speaker
So we've been connected since 2005, I think, maybe even earlier. I can't remember a hundred percent exactly when we met, but I know that it's something to do with Yoga and Ian Finn. Anyway, that was a long time ago, but I've been a friend, a client, a customer of yours for many, many years. Everything that you've done at Saul Good Gift Company is just so remarkable. I think you were the first ever
00:01:36
Speaker
B Corp certified business that I had ever heard of. I didn't know that that existed prior to hearing about you and your business and what you got you excited. So I'm excited to get into all of that.
The Impact of Environment and Music
00:01:48
Speaker
But before we do, let's kick it off with if you were to imagine the perfect grocery store of the future, what would it look like? The future that I imagine is peaceful.
00:02:01
Speaker
people get along and can live happy, healthy, fulfilled lives for their families, their businesses. Peace.
00:02:12
Speaker
The peaceful grocery store, that sounds elegant. I was in a grocery store once where they were dimming the lights and killing the music. It was a sensory play that they were doing. It was a really unique experience. They had described it to me that some of their customers need that type of space in order to do their shopping.
00:02:36
Speaker
Yeah, I'd never experienced that before. And I can tell you the absence of blaring music and the absence of harsh neon lights was actually, it was peaceful. And there weren't people smashing into each other and bumping into you and smashing your kneecaps with their green basket. It was all very civil and beautiful.
00:02:54
Speaker
Music's very interesting as part of the retail experience. I think in advertising and also in the consumer experience. And just like that case in point that everyone's different. But yeah, it's interesting how music can enhance experience for people or make it negative in some cases, if it's too much. Like Christmas music at Cranked 211. That's a little hard on the system, I gotta admit.
Sustainability at Saul Good Gift Company
00:03:22
Speaker
So for those that don't know what you do and how you do it, can you give listeners the rundown on what you make and what possessed you to get into a market, into a category dominated by gigantic cellophane wrapped baskets of crap? Sure. Well, Sol Good gift company is a gift basket business operating in Vancouver, British Columbia, and also Toronto, Ontario.
00:03:48
Speaker
where we source local handmade artisan goodies, delicious food products, snacks, chocolates, gourmet foods, also personal care and home goods. And we curate these gifts, package them in beautiful, sustainable, eco-friendly packaging, and deliver them to your friends, family, colleagues, coworkers, employees across Canada.
00:04:16
Speaker
So we are a gift basket delivery business that's thought a little bit differently around how gift baskets are put together. I founded the business in 2006. We just finished our 18th Christmas holiday season. And a lot was different in the world 18 years ago than it is today. When it all started, I had this opportunity to sell gift baskets.
00:04:44
Speaker
And the little I knew as a 20-something year old just out of school, a young professional, was that if I didn't believe in something, I couldn't sell it.
00:04:55
Speaker
And I had this opportunity to sell gift baskets. And all I could think about was those little jams packaged in a basket made to look big with all this extra packaging and cellophane and big bows. And I just knew, I was very passionate about sustainability and the environment and consumption. And I was on this quest to get into green business and sustainable business, but I didn't really know what that meant
00:05:24
Speaker
for me yet. And there wasn't really a lot of that going on yet in the economy. So yeah, I moved to Vancouver. I was living in Toronto. I moved to Vancouver to start this career in sustainable business. Had this opportunity to sell gift baskets. Knew I couldn't do it because I thought it was really wasteful and it wasn't something I believed in.
00:05:45
Speaker
But it made me ask this question, why do people give out gift baskets? And why do companies give out gifts? And I realized as I learned more about business and was getting my career under my belt and learning more about the business world, that it's all about relationships.
Strengthening Relationships Through Gifting
00:06:03
Speaker
That gifting is this tool to appreciate people, that business is all about relationships and gifts are a way to really appreciate those relationships and to say more than thank you. So from my perspective, it was like, well, hey, now I understand why people give out gifts, but how would I do this in a way that's values aligned? And I got into
00:06:24
Speaker
the whole buy local movement and how to support local small mom and pop shops and how valuable that is in creating a robust local living economy of diverse local business. And then from an environmental perspective, using eco-friendly packaging materials, socially responsible suppliers, really a gift can say more than thank you.
00:06:50
Speaker
it could tell a really good story. And that was the premise that I founded the business in 2006. And I've been working on it full time, basically ever since. So yeah, I guess we met, I think just before I started the business and you would have witnessed like the first iteration and there's been, you know, a fair amount of iteration and growth over the years as
00:07:15
Speaker
We've refined how we go about curating these gifts, fulfilling them, and delivering them with excellence from coast to coast.
E-commerce and Local Business Support
00:07:24
Speaker
I love it. Yeah. Early on, I remember just the fact that I could go to your website and actually click what I wanted and give you a credit card payment over the internet. That was like revolutionary. I didn't actually have to call you or email you or fax you. It was very high tech, Sol. Very high tech.
00:07:44
Speaker
Yeah, originally it was just a PayPal link. It was like a PayPal link on a webpage. And yeah, at that time, I remember the first holiday season, 2006, talking with people and trying to explain to them how important it is to support local businesses, local small businesses. It took years and years and years and years for this to be
00:08:09
Speaker
commonplace. And like now, obviously, like after the pandemic in 2020, everyone knows how important it is to support small local business. And it's like, not even a discussion point anymore. But back in 2006, people didn't understand it. So yeah, it's been really interesting to see the economy change so much and people, consumers awareness and perception around local business has changed, you know, in almost the 20 years we've been we've been doing this.
00:08:40
Speaker
And for the times that I've used your service to say thank you to clients, I know when we were running our own conference for a few years, speaker gifts, we were buying anywhere from half a dozen to a couple dozen gift boxes from you to send to speakers or sponsors as a way of saying thank you. And one of the things I loved most about that process and that experience was
00:09:03
Speaker
the gifts that we were sending through you were helping tell our story. We're helping say to these people that we appreciated and valued that sustainable gift giving, local gift giving, something with some narrative behind it was a representation of what we valued and what we wanted to say. So it kind of created this loop where I was able to continue to grow these relationships
00:09:27
Speaker
by giving something that I knew wasn't just a one-off, like you often get and can get just discarded quickly, or it's sitting wasted on someone's desk, or it turns into a pile of junk, or collects dust, or just no one really appreciates. But these get consumed, they get enjoyed, they get shared, because a lot of it is food stuff. And then it's all done in a way that people can get really excited about the support
00:09:55
Speaker
that these local brands, these local producers, these local makers and craftspeople can really bring to the table. So it's a beautiful ecosystem. Yeah, thanks. I'm still passionate about it all these years later and still find it interesting every day. So it's fun.
Understanding Saul's Customers
00:10:13
Speaker
So who are your customers? What type of people are sending gifts through your service? Is there a very common thread amongst them all? Is it really diverse?
00:10:25
Speaker
Well, we have a fairly diverse customer base, which is a mix of consumer and B2B. I'd say most of our customers, about two thirds of our customers are women and most of them are, I'd say like 30 to 50 years old. That's kind of our largest demographic.
00:10:48
Speaker
But yeah, they're typically professional, early to mid professional, you know, people who are looking to appreciate their clients, their colleagues, coworkers, family and friends. And it could be a gift to celebrate a special occasion that they can't do in person or just to stay connected as tokens of appreciation. It was great to work with you on so and so.
00:11:15
Speaker
And yeah, like, like you said, I think where the real value is where there's an alignment around the story, you know, this all good gift gift
Aligning Gifts with Corporate Values
00:11:24
Speaker
experience. Uh, the story is that it all supports local small businesses. And then with some of our corporate accounts, we'll get into customizing gift programs to really make sure we highlight and tell their specific story that highlights their values or the values of the campaign or project that they're working on.
00:11:44
Speaker
So, yeah, you mentioned B Corp and how we are one of the founding B Corps in Canada. We became a B Corp in 2010. That feels like a long time ago. Yeah, like we were one of the one of the first B Corps in Canada. I think there's there's over seven or eight thousand B Corps globally now and three or four hundred, almost four hundred in Canada.
00:12:07
Speaker
So yeah, like the movement's definitely grown, grown a lot. And just like I said, people, people didn't know why, why to support local back then. Um, and you know, that's just one part of it as far as being sustainable, but, but yeah, it's, it's interesting how much has changed. Like we're working right now on customizing a gift program that has all certified B Corp products for one of our clients.
00:12:31
Speaker
who's also in the B Corp community and it's an important part of their story. You know, we've done a bunch of stuff over the last few years working with indigenous owned businesses, female women owned businesses, new immigrant owned and operated businesses.
Curating Unique Gifts
00:12:50
Speaker
So yeah, it really, I think gifting is really this cool opportunity to tell a neat story. And it's interesting when
00:12:58
Speaker
We really get to know our clients and can get to know what's important to them and then craft the perfect gift to help them appreciate the important people in their business or in their life.
00:13:11
Speaker
And there's a creativity angle to it too where someone can receive a gift that has products or items that they've never heard about or they've never tried before. And that sense of discovery, that sense of awe can be really special. It can really amplify a relationship or a partnership.
00:13:29
Speaker
It can really create conversation points for people that find this stuff interesting or they're more curious. It is a remarkable thing. You talk about indigenous communities and women-owned businesses. How are these brands and companies going out and sourcing them and knocking on their doors? Are they coming to you?
Sourcing and Supporting Artisans
00:13:51
Speaker
Is it a mix of
00:13:52
Speaker
A mix of that, how is it that you're building up this roster of products and items that you know are going to fit really well and work really well with your gifting community? It happens in all kinds of ways, and it's both. I'm always on the lookout and keeping my eyes open.
00:14:10
Speaker
reading labels, figuring out who made things and where and what the story is. Folks find us too. So, you know, we get inquiries every day from small businesses looking to work with us and the ones that seem like a good fit. We dive in to learn more and
00:14:27
Speaker
and have a roster that's coming into us, which is great. At this point, back in the day, I was constantly at markets, farmer's markets, going on road trips, going to different cities, craft shows, and I'd hit the pavement to get curious and discover who are the best artisans in Calgary, in Edmonton, in Toronto, in Montreal. Now you can find a lot of folks online
00:14:57
Speaker
and on social media. And yeah, and I'd also say some of the best suppliers that we have and that we continue to work with can be referrals as well. So often our best suppliers, well, artisans know each other and small food, small food businesses, they know each other. So sometimes occasionally, you know, the word will spread that Saul Goode is a great company to work with.
00:15:26
Speaker
We'll reach out to folks saying, hey, your business looks like a great fit. And they say, oh, we heard about you from so-and-so. And we've been meaning to reach out. So whenever there's those types of connections, they tend to be good ones.
00:15:39
Speaker
But yeah, we need to find businesses that are in the right place too. If they're too small and too micro, they might not be ready to work with us. And if they're too big and it's distributed too widely, it might not be special and curated enough.
00:15:56
Speaker
So, the best fit are folks that are either in retail or are just getting into retail and they're ready to scale up and they see the value in us getting their product into people's hands and creating this really interesting discovery for people to try their products.
00:16:17
Speaker
And like a retailer, you're basically buying a wholesale, a large pallet or a few pallets or a large shipment of product from a supplier and then redistributing for them. It's like a distribution channel for them. It just comes in a prettier package and isn't sitting on a shelf somewhere. But can you list maybe some of the sustainable food or beverage brands that you guys distribute that have been with you for a while? It'd be interesting to hear some of the brands that people might find familiar.
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Fraser Valley Gourmet has been with us for a long time with a couple different products. Kitchening and Company, both of them are in Langley. We work with Left Coast Naturals and Hippie Foods. Folks, they're great in the B Corp community. Cyrene Chocolate, Vancouver Island.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yeah, in Toronto, there's some really great folks, and maybe some folks people don't know that well, but La Rochelle Confections is one of my favorite, favorite chocolatiers. She's named Carolee, and she was actually a referral through our graphic designer.
00:17:31
Speaker
many, many years ago. But either way, Carolee loves chocolate. And it shows like she just sources the best, best quality chocolate and then makes amazing products with them. So yeah, she's been fantastic. And it's definitely an up and coming artisan. There's this fellow named David Chow in Toronto, who he was an engineer that turned into a chocolatier and is very, very creative.
00:18:02
Speaker
Source's local ingredients and makes amazing chocolates. Laura Slack chocolate. Kin & Pod, they were based in Calgary for many years. Her name's Jordan, but she's relocated and has a small cafe in Vernon, BC. And she is amazing. She makes the best hot chocolate in Canada, as well as an amazing sponge toffee. That's milk chocolate espresso sponge toffee. It's one of my favorites.
00:18:32
Speaker
So yeah, all kinds of folks. That's an amazing hit list. I'm surprised by how few I recognize. So it just shows you that by going through the gift boxing world that you've created, there's just so much to discover and learn and to hear about. I really love it.
00:18:49
Speaker
Let's go back to the direct-to-consumer model and the fact that you talked about your PayPal link. I think that's how I ordered through you the first time. You emailed me this gigantically long, scary, looks like spam PayPal link. But now the experience is going to your website. I'm often surprised. Say I wanted to buy a food gift for somebody, but actually just the other day I sent a baby, like a new baby gift.
00:19:16
Speaker
And it really wasn't about food, it was about other things, but things that were curated and made for a special gift for someone that's a new mom. And I find that discovery of all the different options, the fact that your gift boxes, some of them are very consistent, but some of them are new and changing, and you've got seasonal options that are put together.
00:19:37
Speaker
How long are people spending on your website i think my site visit time is probably ten or fifteen minutes when i'm there cuz i'm just poking around and considering and looking the descriptions do people like camp out of your site. I'm sure i like folks that are really curious i think are poking around just like.
00:19:54
Speaker
you're describing, we do our best to tell those little stories of who's making the products, where they came from, where they come from, what makes them interesting. Yeah, like with all e-commerce, some folks land on the site and then they bounce and they're out of there. And then other folks who are more ready to buy or more curious, they're looking at things in more detail before they're ready to check out.
00:20:24
Speaker
It's always a work in progress. Or people like me, I stick three things in my cart and remove one and then I'll hit and then I order. Yeah, I think that's fairly common. A lot of people like add things to their cart as kind of like a little like shortlist. Hey, I'm interested, these things look good and then look through them and pick the one or two that look best.
00:20:47
Speaker
I
Challenges in Sustainable Packaging
00:20:48
Speaker
love it. So looking into the future, what are some of the sustainability challenges or things that your team are working towards? Uh, well, the thing we've most recently looked at and have worked on has been the impact of our packaging for a long time. Now we've been committed to using a hundred percent recycled cardboard in our packaging.
00:21:13
Speaker
as a way to keep trees in the forest. But yeah, when the pandemic hit and everyone was getting everything delivered to their house, there were A, mountains of cardboard boxes, but two, there was also supply chain issues around paper fiber. And it just became really forefront that's like, hey, if there's anything we can do
00:21:37
Speaker
to minimize the amount of paper that we're using in every gift, we should. So we redesigned our packaging. We were able to eliminate 67% of the paper used in every gift box. And yeah, by using 100% recycled materials, we're saving 478 trees per year, which is something, it's not,
00:22:05
Speaker
mountains and mountains of trees, but it's something for our small business. And it feels good to know that we're being more efficient in how we're using those resources. So yeah, that's the latest thing that we've been looking at. But yeah, I think the next thing really is probably shipping. The impact of shipping is something that we could look at moving forward. Maybe a team of bicycle couriers
00:22:35
Speaker
Not sure how far they'd get. Yeah, we experimented with that many years ago. And yeah, if you surf around YouTube, you can find a really fun video of us delivering this big corporate gift order to a condo in downtown Vancouver from our Strathcona warehouse with a bike, bike courier, like a bike cargo.
00:23:00
Speaker
So yeah, that model didn't quite work for us, like for everyday deliveries, just because we're not all concentrated, like right down in the city.
00:23:12
Speaker
But yeah, yeah, there's definitely impact of moving products around and especially coast to coast in Canada. It's a big, big space. But yeah, shipping out of Toronto and shipping out of Vancouver certainly helped minimize the distance travel, both sourcing inbound and outbound for us. And yeah, keep pushing the envelope.
00:23:35
Speaker
Yeah, you're fighting a good fight. Appreciate it. I love seeing your gift boxes around much more than those giant cellophane behemoths that used to be kicking around. Where can people learn more about what you're doing and how you're doing it? It's all good.com. That would be our website and the main place to check out. And yeah, we're on social channels too, on Instagram, LinkedIn.
00:24:03
Speaker
Awesome. Sol Good Gift Company. Did I say it right? Is it a CO.co? That's great, Corwin. Sol Good Gift Co. There you go. Sol, thanks for doing this. Thanks for everything you're doing for people and the planet. Like you said, you've been going for a while now, 18 years. That's a legacy, my friend. What was my pleasure? Pleasure to be here and to reconnect and to share. Thanks so much for having me on, Corwin.
00:24:32
Speaker
Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed the conversation with Saul and that you feel inspired to level up your next gift delivery. Why say with flowers that will die in days or a crappy cellophane-wrapped basket of uninspired food stuff that will just end up in the landfill when you can send an ethically sourced gift box from ItSaulGood.com. Okay, that's it for me. I'm Corwin Hebert, my team is Ethical Food Group, and I'll see you in the future.
00:25:10
Speaker
you