Q&A with Procurall's Jennifer Green: Creating a sustainable supply chain
With 15 years of experience dedicated to developing airline inflight comfort and experience products, Jennifer Green started Procurall Solutions in February 2022. The company is female-owned, female-led and has seen many successes already, supporting and supplying to airlines globally. In this Q&A, WTCE discusses Procurall's success with the company's President and Co-Founder.
WTCE: What led you to start the company?
Green: There is a global movement happening focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion; corporate social responsibility; promoting female leadership and advancing gender equality. Having a career in a male-dominated industry, such as supply chain, my Co-Founder and I thought if there was ever a time to jump in with both feet, it was now. I have such an intense passion for this industry and with some encouragement from my mentor, brand partners, vendors and even some of my respected and valued clients, I did just that… jumped in with both feet.
The company’s focus is on inflight comfort and experience. This includes products across amenity kits, brand collaborations, soft goods including bedding, blankets, pillows and sleep suits, premium cabin products such as noise-cancelling headphones and first-class dinnerware service, buy-on-board programs with travel accessories such as ear buds, neck pillows, travel blankets, eyeshades and more plus sustainable food and beverage products for economy class. If it’s not affixed to the plane, it’s something we can supply.
Copa Airlines Business Class Dinnerware. Image credit: Procurall
WTCE: What are airlines currently demanding?
Green: Greenwashing is becoming increasingly less acceptable as passenger perspectives become savvier and the demand to quantify claims hold companies accountable. As for the onboard industry in particular, sustainability is without a doubt at the forefront. Every airline seems to have their finger on the pulse. It’s no secret aviation isn’t sustainable but having that realization and taking measures to help combat it are key.
Sustainability is embedded in Procurall's ethos. Every decision we make and action we take is influenced by our pursuit of environmental sustainability and our collective responsibility to protect and preserve our planet. We amplify this by collaborating with like-minded partners who champion responsible business, education and the environment throughout our supply chain.
WTCE: How does Procurall ensure it can fulfil its ethos?
Green: Even for a small company like us, to hire a third party that’s going to come in and verify the accuracy of our claims, is difficult. You don’t want to publicly announce a sustainability commitment if you’re not fully confident in your ability to meet those commitments. We don’t publicly announce any initiative until we are sure we can execute and do so legitimately.
Especially here in the US, companies in every industry were claiming whatever they wanted. From manufacturing companies claiming ‘This is plastic free. That is sustainable. You can compost this. To skincare companies promising their products are 100 percent ‘clean,’ ‘vegan’ or ‘plant based.' And when push came to shove many of those claims were unverifiable or flat out falsified.
And we can’t forget the challenges of global inconsistencies. The EU has been ahead of the US in several areas as it relates to policy and regulatory frameworks, notably climate change and environmental regulation. Unlike the US which is barely starting to scratch the surface on verifiable claims, the EU has taken a leading role in addressing climate change with ambitious targets for carbon emission reductions and renewable energy adoption. Due to the US having differing policies at the federal and state levels, our varied approaches make researching targets even more difficult. We have a lot to learn, so there’s a lot of educating to do.
WTCE: So, can sustainability be accurately measured?
Green: We’re a smaller company, we mainly work remote, and we don’t own our factories. Through our education in the UN’s Global Climate Ambition Accelerator Program, we have learned Procurall falls under Scope 3. Those familiar with sustainability scopes know until recently the focus of measuring GHG’s was on Scope 1 and Scope 2. With a growing need to reduce GHG emissions wherever possible, Scope 3 companies are increasingly expected to have a better understanding of their true carbon footprint by taking more accountability within their value chain. But, in a relatively new field, a main challenge is the lack of expert knowledge on how to measure Scope 3 emissions.
We, as suppliers, can plant trees; we can invest in sustainable fuels, we can do XYZ. Or, we can propose that airlines offer their passengers the ability to participate in their own sustainability journey. Involving passengers in becoming more sustainable only enhances the eco-narrative.
Procurall Solutions' sustainable F&B products
WTCE: How can an airline involve passengers in their sustainability journey?
Green: There are numerous ways. Passengers can simply pay to offset their emissions, like Virgin Australia and Delta who offer carbon offset tariffs on tickets, or they can donate and plant a tree. At Procurall, we set out to discover ways to make these contributions, like planting a tree, more impactful. Offering passengers the ability to dedicate the tree they are donating to a loved one, complete with a certificate of authenticity, is a heartfelt way to involve the passenger a with narrative that will resonate.
WTCE: What partnerships does Procurall have that drive its sustainability mission?
Green: Procurall has recently partnered with an innovative tech-startup which is focused on regenerative materials to eradicate single use plastics. We are still in an analyzing phase, navigating various cost comparisons, but we’ve been working with a few airlines and are close to launching a pilot program with one of them, likely in Q2 of 2024.
To enable end-to-end alignment, Procurall vets all of our factories very stringently. We have a sustainable questionnaire they must complete; we request and require certain certifications at the factory level (like ISO140001, ISO50001 and/or BSCI) as well as product certifications (like BPI, ASTM D6400, and FSC), and favor transparent factories who release annual ESG Reports, SDGs and/or CSR.
We also make sure our factory partners are sourcing responsibly and practicing sustainable production such as working in a closed loop manufacturing environment. Where this is unachievable, we work toward recycling and upcycling—how and what can we create to give a product a second or third life cycle?
We currently have two strategic partnerships which allows us the ability to collect a variety of waste streams and recycle them into a secondary raw material. The secondary raw materials are then used to make entirely new products, or we can implement them back into a specific customers supply chain.
WTCE: Where would you like Procurall to be in the next five years?
Green: Our goal is for Procurall to be regarded as a leading supplier in sustainable and responsible practices, with an innovative adaptability to identify trends and strategic partnership alignments. We hope to do this by continuing our commitment to Creating Impactful Partnerships with Purpose.
WTCE: How has exhibiting at WTCE been and what has been your biggest successes?
Green: WTCE is a phenomenal show. It’s a Who’s Who in the world of Airlines and Suppliers. To be a true player ‘in the game,’ you’ve got to be there. You MUST have a presence. It’s the networking event of the year with almost every airline globally in attendance.
WTCE offers the opportunity to continue building rapport while tuning into each airline’s focus and learning what their goals and initiatives are. Being based in the US, making connections with International Airlines, is always top of mind. We typically average somewhere around 30+ meetings in those three days and always leave knowing more than when we walked in.
