GOOD BEER, BREWED FOR A BETTER PLANET
Good Things Brewing Co.’s brewing complex is 100% powered by solar panels, and the brewing process starts with water bored from a 96-meter-well on-site and ends with delivery via a fleet of electric-only vehicles.
Good Things Brewing Co. is a Sussex-based company created to build the world’s most sustainable brewery. Their vision to become the world’s first closed-loop brewery is ambitious to say the least; completely energy-efficient, off-grid with everything recycled and reused – from water to grain. The founder, Sam Robinson, was inspired to start the company after becoming more aware of the negative environmental impact of the beer-making process as well as the lack of public knowledge on the topic. In the UK specifically, the process of brewing is affecting the earth in ways it cannot sustain; raw ingredients are shipped from the far corners of the world, energy and water are wasted, and the leftover grain is recycled inefficiently. Since the project aimed to innovate the standard way brewers did things, the branding and aesthetic also needed to make the claim that nothing about Good Things Brewing Co. was remotely traditional.
BRINGING THE STRATEGY TO LIFE
Good Things Brewing Co. translated their sustainability vision into an inspirational company mission: “Creating the beer we love, fit for the world we love”. Their mission was holistically engraved into the brand, ensuring that the story was told in a completely sustainable way. To differentiate from other competitor craft beer brands, Good Things Brewing Co. sought to develop a distinctive, bold style. A core icon in the form of a bird, whose tail feathers mimic an ear of barley, was developed to appeal to an audience of men and women and aimed to attribute a feeling of peace and nature to the products. The soft colours on a textured matt paper label work to enhance the natural and tactile feel of the brand. Good Things Brewing Co. use their environmentally-friendly vision as their overarching brand strategy, with each brand choice carefully made to move the brewery closer to their sustainability goals. The brewery made the strategic choice to use cans instead of bottles due to them being lighter to transport, and because aluminium is in around 95% circulation. This way, Good Things Brewing Co. is able to reduce one of the most considerable negative impacts in the beer industry.
Good Things Brewing Co.’s distinctive packaging for the hero product conveys a ‘good’ message whilst being visually enticing.
The essence of the brand was captured in The Good Things Brewing Co. brand book which uses a single-colour vegetable-based ink that is printed on recycled paper via an eco-printing press. The beautiful monochromatic design, apart from being visually appealing, is fully recyclable and aims to encourage readers to spread ‘good things’ and pass that goodness on to others. The booklet also features key environmental statistics which inspired the brand’s conception.
The Good Things Brewing Co. brand book looks good while doing good for the environment by using recycled paper and eco-friendly printing products.
To strengthen the brand identity across a range of mediums, an extensive deck of illustrative icons were born from the bold and distinctive bird logo. Some rather startling statistics, which inspired the founder to make significant changes to the industry, were brought to life using the brand’s illustrative linework.
The brand book for Good Things Brewing Co. shows off their illustrative icon set accompanied by staggering statistics about the UK brewing industry.
MORE GOOD THINGS BREWING
The mission to achieve a closed-loop brewery is an ongoing process for Good Things Brewing Co., where the brewery is continuously searching for ways to minimise the unnecessary harm to the planet. One solution has resulted in the company producing their own flour made from left-over grain, a byproduct of the brewing process. Impressively, the Good Things Brewing Co. has designed and patented the world’s first low-energy, large-scale, solar-powered dehydrator to dry and mill the spent grain onsite, keeping the process within their closed-loop system. The otherwise wasted ingredient is now sold as wholemeal flour of incredible quality with longer shelf-life and less impact to transport.
Spent grain, a by-product of the brewing process, turned into Good Things Brewing Co. flour.
The company’s mission to spread the ‘good’ word is not just concentrated on promoting their own products; Good Things Brewing Co. often collaborates with like-minded folks by creating bespoke brews. Whilst it is essential for the cans to have their own personality during collaborative events, the brewery had to consider how the packaging was also clearly identifiable as part of the Good Things brand. This led to the creation of double-faced cans where one side represents a brand or an event, and the other side is dedicated to the Good Things Brewing Co. brand identity. Each illustration is executed in the same distinctive linear style that sets apart the brand from the other competitors and allows for the eye-catching packaging to be added to their portfolio.
Good Things Brewing Co.’s collaborations use the same unique and eye-catching design, successfully communicating their philosophy.
LEAVING A SUSTAINABLE MARK
Good Things Brewing Co. is a small business doing good; its message engaging over 15,000 people on Instagram who eagerly follow the company’s ‘good’ journey. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the founder to cease operations temporarily, online engagement has been at an all-time high. Over the last two months alone, 2000 new local customers have openly supported Good Things Brewing Co. on their social channels. Sam attributes this success to the company’s playful and conscious branding that is inspiring to all, irrespective of gender.
WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD?
If you want to make a statement and improve life with your business through the adoption of more sustainable business practices, similar to Good Things Brewing Co., we’d like to offer you a strategy call with our Head of Strategy, Grant Davidson. Having nearly 30 years in the industry working with sustainable brands, Grant has the experience and knowledge necessary to identify your core brand values, and how to communicate them effectively. Of course, this call will be free of charge.
