Collaboration in a sustainable gift box

What do a pack of coffee and a T-shirt have in common? You can neither wear nor drink both – and yet these two items together made it into a gift box. The secret of the liaison lies in the inner values: both products are linked by the sustainable production and mission of their manufacturing companies.

Why all this?

The sustainable t-shirt made of recycled materials comes from Everlane. The US fashion label started ten years ago and is now celebrating its first anniversary on the Chinese market. To celebrate this occasion Everlane cooperates with Ele.me, the on-demand delivery platform of Alibaba and the Shanghai based coffee company Seesaw Coffee. Together the three companies have developed a sustainable concept for a gift box. A recycled T-shirt and a pack of Seesaw coffee from sustainable production come together in an environmentally friendly outer packaging, which is modelled on a Chinese Bento lunch box.

“Radical transparency” at Everlane

The fashion company Everlane is known for its sustainable standards. They follow the guiding principle of “radical transparency”, which reveals exactly the price behind every product. No matter whether it’s material, labor, transport or customs: The customers should know exactly what costs each individual item has caused and what profit Everlane makes with it. Besides sustainable materials Everlane pays special attention to good working conditions in the factories and fair wages. The recycled T-shirt in the gift box embodies these sustainable corporate values. At the same time, the one-year-old is celebrated on the Chinese market. 

Sustainable coffee from China

The second component in the gift box is a pack of coffee from Seesaw. The coffee company pays attention to sustainable cultivation, maintains direct contact with the farmers and is known for its unique single-origin coffee from the Yunnan region. At Seesaw, the motivation for the cooperation was based on the desire to expand the customer radius and to stand up to the delivery service competition of Meituan Dianping. The collaboration with the Ele.me delivery platform was therefore particularly interesting for the coffee manufacturer.

Diverse collaborations connect

The case of the gift box shows the opportunity that lies in the theme of collaboration. The benefit lies in the collaboration of even companies from outside the industry who are involved in an overarching theme. In the example described, fashion and coffee companies focus on sustainability and together increase not only product awareness but also brand awareness among their customers. To this end, the collaboration addresses current topics such as the reference to the one-year market presence at Everlane and the desire for more delivery variability at Seesaw. Thus, what at first glance seems to be incompatible, comes together.

Picture: Everlane