Nicole Nguyen
Sampsa Paakkinen
Oliver Kuisma
My Pham
Hanken School of Economics
Martin Fougere
Eva Nilsson
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The innovation started from an oat smoothie recipe that was used to utilize oatmeal leftovers from children’s breakfast to reduce food waste and incorporate more plant-based products into children’s daily diet. The innovation being plant-based foods for kids not only provides a sustainable food option but also incorporates well-being and good health (SDG 3) for children while getting them used to the textures and tastes of plant-based goods so that they develop a taste for it at an early age.
GPA’s innovation corresponds with multiple SDGs goals such as Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Life on Land (SDG 15), and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17) (UN 2022). Based on their objectives of providing 100% plant-based organic foods alternatives, sustainable sourcing, supporting biodiversity, switching to zero emission transport, recyclable packaging, and planet-friendly standards for their partners to commit to. Although GPA might not solve all the SDGs mentioned it is leading and heading in the right direction with its practices of encouraging healthy eating habits for children whilst maintaining sustainable production and consumption. GPA is setting an example for other companies to be more sustainable with their operations and values. The firm’s optimism and enthusiasm toward sustainability are truly inspiring. By producing children’s foods in easy-to-consume and appealing forms they are shaping current and future attitudes towards healthy living and conscious sustainable consumption.
UN (2022). THE 17 GOALS. Available from: https://sdgs.un.org/goals. Accessed 27 September 2022.
Everything started when Milla’s (the founder of GPA) own daughter was 5 years old. She saw a picture of a melting planet accidentally on Milla’s laptop and was asking: “Mom, what is that? Is that the planet we live on, and is it really melting like an ice cream?” Milla had no idea what to tell her, but she knew exactly at that moment what to do. Because according to researchers, the single most effective way to reduce carbon footprint is to eat more plant-based products. So, with that vision, she wanted to create tools that are easy for parents and fun for kids to eat more plant-based food.
The overall impact of eating more plant-based food to reduce carbon footprint of the food industry as well as promoting a healthier lifestyle in general. Animal agriculture is responsible for producing greenhouse gases such as nitrous, soil carbon dioxide (Grossi et al 2019), and reduction of native forests and grasslands (Harwatt 2018). Plant-based food sources require less land, water, and other natural chemical elements and result in significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions (Harwatt 2018). In short term, the effect will be increasing awareness of the benefits of eating such food. The long term effect, as mentioned in their mission statement, is to raise a healthy planet friendly generation by providing organic plant-based baby food so that children will have a sustainable planet to live on in the future. They want also to tell a story through packaging to inspire and educate the kids and their parents about planet friendly lifestyles.
The impact of their business model comes from promotion of more sustainable options within the industry. GPA has created three planet friendly pillars that include:
(1) advocating organic food consumption and supporting regenerative farming;
(2) eating plant-based food as it is good for personal long-term personal wellbeing as well as that of the planet and recyclability; and
(3) choosing the most planet friendly packaging options available on the market.
In general, the company is trying their best to minimize its own carbon footprint and negative impacts to environment, and to ultimately have a long-term sustainable business.
Grossi, G., Goglio, P., Vitali, A. & Williams A.G. (2019) Livestock and climate change: impact of livestock on climate and mitigation strategies. Animal Frontiers, 9(1), 69–76. DOI: 10.1093/af/vfy034
Harwatt, H. (2018). Including animal to plant protein shifts in climate change mitigation policy: a proposed three-step strategy. Climate Policy. DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2018.1528965
In 2022, Green Planet Astronauts has raised approximately EUR1 million from Nordic investors. In the year before, the company secured EUR364 thousand from Finnish angel investors. GPA products are now available in over 700 Finnish markets and from their website. They recently launched their products in Sweden, making it the second home for GPA’s products. With growing investments and revenue, the company is taking small steps to expand to the US and China next. These markets have a diverse customer range and are believed to be an earnest effort to bring more awareness to consuming more plant-based baby food. Milla also shows her intention toward creating new products for not just babies but also toddlers and young children in the near future.
The founder mentioned that even though they are a small company with 13 employees, they share the same vision, passion and the belief of a better future for the planet and the succeeding generations. That belief brings them together as a team. According to Ulrika, Head of Brand and Marketing, a team-meeting day every Friday namely “F*ck up Friday” is organized, allowing team members to voice out one thing that they have messed up and the lessons learned from it. The employees express that it is a liberating approach to self-reflection and motivation among members of a small start-up. The pace is so fast that screw-ups happen very often. There are also team days in which employees spend time with each other.
All GPA’s products are certified by the EU, which means that its food supply chain is sustainable with strong regard for the environment. With babies familiarizing themselves with eating plant-based ingredients, certain allergens can be eliminated at such a young age. GPA’s baby food does not contain added sugar other than that from the fruits, i.e., fructose. To further reduce the amount of fructose in fruits, veggies are introduced and added to the mixture, so babies can get used to the taste of vegetables.
Although the product packaging of GPA is plastic, they argue that it is a valuable, durable, and light material and is simply the best choice for food conservation. Instead, food spoilage and regular transport with a low volume of goods could release emissions and be damaging to the environment. In order for food products to have better shelf longevity, GPA commits a trade-off in using plastic for packaging material. Moreover, plastics only become a problem when they end up in nature. So, instead of eliminating plastics, GPA believes that better plastic recycling guidelines and circular economy are more sustainable solutions when approaching this matter. The company’s packaging is 100% plastic without aluminium so it is entirely recyclable.
Moreover, in cooperation with the Finnish 4H Federation, other firms and the Finnish youth, GPA participated in planting more trees in the iron soil swamp of Reisjärvi municipality.
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GPA is a company devoted to providing 100% plant-based organic food for children. The organic production and raw food aspect support biodiversity thus consuming less of the earth’s resources as opposed to animal-based products which contribute to CO2 emissions.
