Feeling homesick in 2004, Siggi Hilmarsson craved one of his childhood comfort foods, skyr (a thick, creamy, protein-rich yogurt from Iceland) and began experimenting with a recipe from his mother in his NYC apartment. Out of his experimentation, siggi’s, an Icelandic skyr brand, was born in 2005. I’ve always noticed siggi’s on the shelf when grocery shopping but, as an avid Noosa consumer, I’d not been inspired to actually try their skyr until I noticed that their products are made with significantly less sugar because I was preparing a small tub of it for the baby I care for. The label on siggi’s nonfat yogurts are made of paper and are removable. On the inside there are a couple of pictures and short copy describing their company’s story. This inspired me to dig deeper into the company’s history and sustainability practices (the labels on these containers make it easier to recycle them).
When looking into any company’s sustainability practices I am interested not only in their environmental practices but their commitment to treating the people who are involved in the creation of their products humanely and ethically. In the “supply chain disclosures” Siggi’s defines their commitment as:
We believe that we have a responsibility to conduct our business in an ethical and sustainable way and expect the same from our suppliers, thus we strive to build long-term business relationships that demonstrate a commitment to fair treatment of workers and environmental responsibility. This includes working to combat the practices of forced labor, slavery, and human trafficking.
This is a more bold and direct stance than I have seen most companies take in regard to the way that the humans involved in their supply chain are listed. Because their “supply chain disclosures” page starts off so strongly, I was surprised to read only a couple of paragraphs down that, although Siggi’s has a hotline so that anyone working at/with companies that are a part of their supply chain can report a violation of the standards siggi’s has set, siggi’s does not currently have an auditing process in place for companies that they work with.
Beyond expressing a commitment to sustainability and ethical practices within their supply chain, siggi’s has a grant program called “Siggi’s Starters” which “empowers nutrition professionals seeking to develop innovative programs to improve health in their local communities” by providing the winner with a $20k grant and mentorship to develop and execute their concept. After taking a look at which stores and neighborhoods it is most common to find Siggi’s in, the price point of their products, and scrolling through their Instagram page, I am curious about what the racial and socio-economic demographics of their average consumers are. The Siggi’s Starters program is a phenomenal opportunity, but I am curious to whom this opportunity is being advertised and if it is reaching nutrition professionals, creators, and community leaders who are marginalized and are less likely to gain access to essential funding & mentorship.
Furthermore, Siggi’s was founded in New York City. So, after thinking about what I’ve mentioned above, my initial suggestions for Siggi’s to honor the commitments they have made are as follows:
Instagram + Blog: Partner with more creators, nutritionists, bloggers, etc…, who are from a wider array of racial, ethnic, gender, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds to display a genuine commitment to reflecting the cultures and people of the city they were founded in. By doing this, I believe Siggi’s could reach more people who have brilliant ideas for health initiatives to apply for their Siggi’s starters grant.
Develop an auditing process: As Siggi’s continues to grow, I would like to see them develop an auditing process for the businesses that make up their supply chain so that they can ensure they are actually honoring the commitment they have made, as opposed to relying on the hope of people reporting injustices via their hotline. I think the hotline is an incredible start, but I believe that the onus of ensuring ethical procedures are being followed should not fall upon workers.
Overall, I am genuinely excited to see the ways in which Siggi’s continues to grow, to learn about their current commitments to sustainability and ethics, and to see if/how the ways they honor these commitments continue to evolve.