From bushfires to newborns, 2020 has already been something of a rollercoaster ride for the 99th Monkey family.
As we all know, Australia’s bush fire season has been devastating. With 2019 being the hottest and driest year on record, we saw some of the most catastrophic fires to date. This has left homes destroyed, an overwhelming number of people and animals animals dead and the Australian public left wondering what to do now.
As a business that has always focused on reducing our environmental impact, it has been hard to sit back and watch this destruction unfold. For us, it prompts the question – what more can we do to safeguard the future of our planet?
Like many other businesses, at 99th Monkey we tried to do our bit to raise money for the bushfire victims. 100% of our profits from a weekend of online sales were donated to the Australian Red Cross Foundation. Although our part was small in comparison to the problem, it is crazy what can be achieved when the community comes together.
These bushfires also reinforced our decision to make the business completely carbon neutral last year. We worked with an independent auditor to calculate exactly what our carbon footprint was as a business and how we could reduce it. We have looked at all the emissions 99th Monkey generates, including through production of raw materials and packaging, our electricity use and even our team’s daily commute into work. With that number, we purchased carbon offsets from With One Seed, who run an amazing tree planting program with East Timorese farmers to offset emissions and help stimulate the Timorese economy.
This year, we want to go beyond that. So in 2020 we have launched our Nuts to Carbon Initiative, whereby for every kilogram of nut butter sold, we will offset an additional kilogram of carbon the With One Seed.
Amidst all of this concern, however, was one very bright spot. To our absolute delight, my wife Tracey and I welcomed a new arrival to our monkey family on 15 January this year, Rosa Sheridan. As a family run business, this meant the office was a little quiet for a few weeks! However our trusty nut crushers Brian, Daniel and Rob continued to create fresh, creamy nut butter’s whilst I was having endless cuddles and chasing after my 3-year-old, Mae-Mae.
Having a second child has made me reflect on the importance of delivering honest, healthy and delicious food to our customers, and doing so in a way that is kind to our planet.
We are pumped to continue this way of business and ready for an exciting and successful 2020, eating all the nut butter as we go!
