How Grapevine aims to close the inaction gap to help consumers shop sustainably
Co-founded in February by University of Melbourne graduates Aaron Fraser and Gun Yu Pin, Grapevine aims to simplify the sustainable shopping journey.
Imagine there was a place where you could navigate past greenwashing to get trustworthy, reliable insights into any product’s sustainability and ethics credentials before making purchase decisions.
That’s the vision motivating the Melbourne-based founders of Grapevine, an embryonic social marketplace app for sustainable and ethical product reviews, shopping and information.
Co-founded in February by University of Melbourne graduates Aaron Fraser and Gun Yu Pin, the app aims to simplify the sustainable shopping journey.
“The data clearly shows that people want to shop sustainably,” Fraser told SmartCompany.
“Eighty-four per cent of Australian consumers say they want to make good purchasing decisions, but only 10% do so consistently. We want to help close this inaction gap.”
Enter Grapevine, which will feature a social media-style feed where users post interactive reviews about products and experiences they recommend, as well as lifestyle tips to be more sustainable and ethical, and a marketplace filled with brands across categories like fashion, homewares and skincare – all backed by product profiles that tell you why a brand is sustainable and ethical.
Informed by detailed research from more than 100 consumer interviews and in-depth in-person focus groups, the startup aims to help people discouraged by greenwashing shop more sustainably, by creating a space where users can shop to make a difference with confidence and convenience.
“We found that consumers face three big problems,” said Fraser.
“A lack of access to the products, a lack of transparency, and a lack of trust. Consumers typically find that there is either not enough information to evaluate if a product is actually sustainable or ethically made, or there is too much information and it is almost overwhelming. The lack of trust comes from growing consumer recognition of greenwashing, which makes it hard to trust a company’s claims on social media or the web.”
Is there a demand for such a product? According to Fraser, the conscious consumer market is worth $8.4 billion annually in Australia alone, and the successes of companies such as Good on You – which rates fashion brands – and Greener – which helps businesses save money while reducing emissions – shows growing demand for sustainability platforms.
“I not only see an opportunity that’s potentially profitable but one that is life-changing in terms of how we inform consumption,” Fraser told SmartCompany.
“At present, there is no standard to shopping sustainably. Social commerce is taking off, people want to buy more sustainably and ethically. That’s a good sign. If we can build this platform we can hold bigger brands accountable.”
Grapevine was one of five companies shortlisted to compete at the Pitch, SmartCompany‘s early-stage startup competition, last night in Melbourne.
The event saw housing design startup Oltre win the title of the Pitch winner.
Are you ready to pitch to a panel of leading VCs and startup founders? Applications to the Pitch are now open for Sydney!
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