75 BUSINESS pollution, landfill waste & carbon footprint. Natural resources Many craft materials (like cotton, wool, or wood) depend on ecosystems. Sustainable practices ensure that these natural resources remain available for future makers. Supporting Ethical Production Selecting eco-friendly suppliers or fairtrade materials helps ensure that workers, animals, and communities are treated fairly. Many crafters care about the origin and story behind their materials. Health and Safety Sustainable materials often involve fewer toxic chemicals (e.g., low-VOC glues and paints, natural fibres, plant-based dyes). This benefits both the crafter, the consumer and the environment. Higher-Quality Eco-friendly materials are often durable and beautifully made. Sustainable crafting promotes quality over quantity, leading to heirloom-worthy creations. Personal Values For many, crafting is slow, mindful, and intentional. Sustainability naturally complements this mindset, valuing care, creativity, and respect for the world around us. Our commitment to sustainability is central to our business, from using FSCcertified wood to maintaining our own forest in Poland. The ethos of SproutWorld is sustainability – creating something responsibly that then can be repurposed and turned into something else. We’re dedicated to the circular economy. However, over the last few years, counterfeit attempts from regions like China, India, and Turkey have threatened us. Despite patents and trademarks, manual monitoring was only uncovering a fraction of infringements. Counterfeits were using unsustainable materials that posed ecological risks, introducing non-native seeds that could damage biodiversity. This is literally the opposite of what we want to do. It was imperative that we removed these harmful products from the market, ensuring that our innovations remained eco-friendly and trusted by consumers, and that the environment was protected – the whole point of our company! We needed a scalable, efficient solution to combat counterfeiters while safeguarding our reputation and sustainability mission. To tackle these challenges, we partnered with a company called Red Points, deploying AI-powered technology to detect and remove counterfeit listings across platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, and Etsy. By automating monitoring and enforcement, Red Points eliminated the need for time-consuming manual processes. Beyond enforcement, Red Points delivered actionable insights that SproutWorld’s sales team leveraged to actively engage with unauthorised sellers. This unique approach turned infringements into opportunities, converting counterfeit distributors into official partners and bolstering SproutWorld’s market reach. More than 7,000 infringements were removed across 690 domains, significantly reducing the market presence of counterfeit products. We also identified and reported 1,982 infringers globally, gaining invaluable visibility into reseller networks. These efforts streamlined enforcement, enhanced operational efficiency, and supported SproutWorld’s broader sustainability goals. We operate in a world of e-commerce where new stores and sellers are constantly springing up, offering cheaper goods and faster delivery times. Their business models rely on creating and delivering on-trend products, imitated from others brands then promoted at an unprecedented rate through social media. Temu - a classic example With more than 130 million app downloads - more than Amazon and Shein - Temu has quickly risen the ranks in the world of fast fashion-style retail. Connecting consumers directly to manufacturers, mainly in China, Temu cuts costs on a huge scale and uses social media and data driven advertising to target a wide demographic with huge output - according to Greenmatch, Temu despatches approximately 1.6million parcels a day, which translates to around 16,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from air transportation alone, never mind the packaging waste and other environmental and ethical issues. It’s not just environment - the quality of the products is often queried. Without buying from recognised and audited companies, shoppers simply don’t know what they’re buying. Social media has provided a massive opportunity for counterfeiters. The potential reach is massive. 73 percent of consumers are now actively shopping on social media platforms, a survey by bazaarvoice recently revealed. According to Root Digital, TikTok has over 1bn monthly active users. 55 percent of TikTok users have bought something from a brand after seeing their products on the app. 50 percent of TikTok users have made a purchase after watching a TikTok Live - 18 percent of marketers currently use TikTok for marketing purposes and this will no doubt rise. According to recent studies, around 3.3 percent of global trade is estimated to be counterfeit goods, meaning roughly one in every $20 spent globally could be on a fake product. It’s therefore vital that we safeguard against these fakes. Business reputations, customer trust, business growth sustainability rely on this. The best way to do this is though AI protection and this should be an ongoing part of any product-led craft business model. Hartono Creative Studio Hello Aesthe
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