Accelerating Climate Commitments through Actionable Data

Meet Ritual

Founded by Katerina Schneider, Ritual is a health brand bringing a new level of transparency to the health and wellness industry. While pregnant and in search of a prenatal she could trust, Katerina took matters into her own hands and pioneered a new standard of high-quality multivitamins and supplements that are backed by science and Made Traceable®, openly sharing the science and sourcing. Now as one of the most trusted brands in the category and one of few supplement companies to be a Certified B Corporation, Ritual has had more than a million customers and has the top selling online prenatal multivitamin.

The Challenge

Focusing on traceability has allowed the company to advance efforts in sustainability and impact. From educating consumers on understanding what’s inside their label, to working to protect people across their supply chain. Investing in ways to protect the planet was a natural extension of their work. 

Ritual has set and shared their target of reaching net zero emissions by 2030. In order to make this happen, they have been reaching stepping stone goals along the way. Most notably, the company has achieved a traceable supply chain, hitting their 2022 ingredient traceability goal and obtained their B Corp Certification, scoring well above the average, both massive achievements in such a short period of time. To keep progressing towards their ultimate goal of net zero emissions by 2030, they were faced with the challenge of balancing carbon footprint reductions with growth goals, not an easy feat as they continue to launch new products in new categories each year.

The Solution

In a word, data. Quality data enables quality decisions to enable effective action and ultimately achieve goals. Ritual took the first step in creating a traceable supply chain across their products, which is the foundation of solid data that can be leveraged for robust sustainability programs. However, in order to understand the emissions impact of not only their products, but their company, Ritual needed the help of Planet FWD to understand the carbon footprint of each of their products. Together the companies analyzed emissions from a bottom-up and top-down approach by conducting detailed product lifecycle assessments across their growing portfolio. Soon, the team will embark on the next step, an annual Corporate Inventory, based on Life-Cycle Assessment data, to dive deeper into where they can reduce emissions. 

<span class="small-blockquote">“We need to closely examine our carbon hot spots, it’s not about just measuring and offsetting. We’re looking to make real strides to reduce carbon associated with our ingredients and packaging and to inform the next innovation cycle.”</span>

<span class="blockquote-wrap">
<strong>Lindsay Dahl</strong>
Chief Impact Officer, Ritual
</span>

By kicking off with product Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), Ritual was able to quickly see a heat map of top emissions drivers, which aided in deciding where to focus their efforts.

Results

By completing product lifecycle assessments on their full portfolio, the company now understands the impact of all its choices. A prime example of this is its use of regeneratively farmed pea protein in its Essential Protein products, which is nine times less carbon intensive than the far more widely used whey. Another benefit of this work is that Ritual was able to become CarbonFree Certified, another momentous achievement towards their 2030 goal and a first for the supplement industry.

<span class="small-blockquote">“The level of sophistication Planet FWD brought to our product LCAs was incredible. Now we have data that is actionable. We’ll be leveraging this information to make strategic changes and reduce our carbon footprint as part of our larger decarbonization strategy.”</span>

<span class="blockquote-wrap">
<strong>Lindsay Dahl</strong>
Chief Impact Officer, Ritual
</span>

Now that Ritual has a baseline of the carbon footprint of their products, it is embarking on a Corporate Inventory. This will enable the team to measure the sum total of not only their products, but also company operations such as employee travel, energy usage and office space. Because Ritual has already done the hard work to baseline their products with Planet FWD, this makes performing their Corporate Inventory faster and also more precise.

<span class="small-blockquote">“Having previously done spend-based corporate carbon accounting, we wanted a more accurate understanding of our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Marrying the product LCAs with corporate carbon accounting with Planet FWD will be best in class.”</span>

<span class="blockquote-wrap">
<strong>Lindsay Dahl</strong>
Chief Impact Officer, Ritual
</span>

Unlike most other carbon accounting solutions that exist today, Planet FWD is able to use the life cycle assessment data on a company’s products to give a company real insight into how it can actually reduce its company-wide emissions. Enabled by Planet FWD’s software, Ritual is able to make more effective decisions in new product innovation as well by ensuring it’s incorporating low emissions ingredients, packaging and production for new products. With only 7 years to go before their net-zero target deadline, Ritual believes that Planet FWD is the best tool to enable swift and effective progress toward its goal. 

Looking forward, Ritual will be able to use the insights generated from Planet FWD to actively estimate and track the impact of top reduction opportunities across all sectors of the business, even down to the specific supplier inputs, which ultimately will bolster their credibility with consumers through detailed Impact Reporting and marketing claims. Furthermore, as they continue to develop lower carbon footprints for their products, they will be able to message how they’re continuously making improvements with their customers and employees, while differentiating themselves from other supplement companies. To learn more about how Planet FWD can help your company lead on climate, click here.

We’re thankful to companies such as Ritual that are the changemakers, setting a new standard across industries. Together, we can move the planet forward.