Sustainable Edge · Commercial consulting

Beyond requirements.
Towards advantage.

Helping businesses turn sustainability into commercial value and competitive advantage.

Explore consultingContact us
Materials and options being considered around a business decision

Turn sustainability into a stronger business.

Sustainability is changing customer requirements, costs and opportunities. The challenge is deciding what that means for your business and making the best commercial use of the changes ahead.

Our three core offers address customer access and proof, buyer adoption and value, and opportunity and investment. Start with a live customer requirement, interest that has not become a purchase, or an opportunity that needs a credible case. Each engagement connects the immediate decision with the wider business.

When you need to respond

Make more of the response
you need to make.

Regulatory and customer demands affect packaging, product requirements and environmental claims. Examples include the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), requests for product carbon data and sustainability assessments needed to qualify as a supplier.

The obligation may be clear while the commercial response is not. Choices about suppliers, product design, pricing and investment affect profitability and customer relationships. The necessary work may also create value beyond the immediate requirement.

What must we change, what will it cost, and can the same investment strengthen the business?

Explore the work

When you want to move early

Develop the opportunity
you want to pursue.

You see potential to grow through sustainability before a requirement or customer request arrives. That could mean circular services, lower-carbon products or a business model that makes better use of resources.

The opportunity might build on an existing strength: an installed equipment base that could support refurbishment services, or material expertise that could reduce customers’ costs. Customer demand, economics and competitors’ alternatives determine where to commit.

Where could we build an offer customers value and a position competitors find harder to match?

Explore the work

How we help

Customer access.
Buyer value. Sound investment.

Three focused ways to work together, combining commercial strategy, customer insight, evidence and economics. Each can stand alone or lead into a broader partnership as the business needs develop.

Customer Access & Proof

A customer request, tender or challenged environmental claim puts business at stake. Establish what buyers require, which evidence supports your response and what needs to change before you can proceed.

What you take forward

A customer response, evidence map and prioritised action plan for one live commercial situation.

For example

Repair requirements change the economics.

EU Right to Repair puts parts, service costs and customer support into the commercial equation. How should an appliance manufacturer respond?

What we would develop: a comparison of responses, their costs and a focused pilot.

Explore the appliance example
Explore the engagement

Buyer Adoption & Value

Customers see the sustainability benefit, but hesitate to commit. Identify the right buyers, test their economics and buying barriers, and develop the proposition, pricing and proof needed for a pilot or purchase.

What you take forward

A buyer-specific proposition, customer value case and practical path to a pilot or purchasing decision.

For example

Ingredient pressures call for a stronger offer.

A biscuit business faces cocoa-related sustainability pressures and rising costs. How could it protect affordability and margins while considering responsible sourcing?

What we would develop: alternative offers, range economics and a plan to test shopper response.

Explore the cocoa example
Explore the engagement

Opportunity & Investment

A new market, circular service or lower-carbon solution could strengthen the business. Compare demand, economics, capabilities and partners to decide where to commit, what to test and what to leave aside.

What you take forward

An opportunity and investment review, with a recommendation, decision conditions and a bounded next step.

For example

Test the case for a new service

A manufacturer sees potential for paid refurbishment. Which customers would buy, and would service income outweigh costs and displaced replacement sales?

For this opportunity: priority customer segments, an investment case and a recommendation on whether and where to pilot.

Explore the engagement

How we work

Built with your teams.
Grounded in evidence.
Open to possibilities.

Your teams bring sustainability expertise, customer knowledge and an understanding of how the business operates. We work alongside them to develop the commercial options, strengthen the investment case and shape the offer, drawing on customer and market insight and financial analysis.

Bring the right people together

Involve the colleagues needed for the decision across sustainability, sales, marketing, product, operations and finance. Build on what they know and the work already underway.

Use the evidence that matters

Connect customer insight with account, cost and operational data. Identify what the information can tell us and investigate gaps that could change the decision.

Develop the options together

Develop alternatives rather than accept the first answer. Test customer value, economics and delivery, then agree priorities and next actions with the people who will take the work forward.

Futures & foresight

Prepare your business
for what comes next.

If you want to get ahead of changing customer expectations, resource pressures and new technologies, you need to understand what they could mean for your markets and business model.

We explore plausible developments and test your plans against them. Which capabilities should you build now? Which opportunities merit an early experiment? Which commitments should remain flexible?

For example, before investing in a new service, examine how customers’ preference for ownership, repair or access could change, and what that would mean for demand, revenue and delivery.

Explore Futures and foresight
An architectural passage opening towards different directions

Perspectives

Perspectives for better
business decisions.

Articles and analysis on the commercial questions behind sustainability: what buyers value, what protects market access and where investment could strengthen the business. Each examines a practical issue, the assumptions worth questioning and the implications for management.

Market access

Access before advantage

Sometimes sustainability protects permission to compete before it creates differentiation.

View all Perspectives
Nic Kaftan, founder of Sustainable Edge

About Sustainable Edge

Connecting sustainability with investment, innovation and growth.

Sustainable Edge was created to help businesses make more of the sustainability changes they need to make and develop opportunities of their own. The approach combines commercial strategy, data and insights, and business development with a broad understanding of sustainability.

Founder Nic Kaftan brings more than 20 years across consulting, innovation and commercial leadership, complemented by a deliberate sustainability deep dive.

Why Sustainable Edge

Start a conversation

What does your business need to resolve or want to develop?

A customer needs evidence, buyers are hesitating, or an opportunity needs an investment decision. Tell us what is at stake, what you have already tried and when you need to move forward.

Contact us