Sainsbury's Celebrating female-founded small businesses

International Women’s Day (Tuesday 8th March 2022) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias which is something that we can collectively do,

Imagine a gender-equal world.

• A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
• A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
• A world where difference is valued and celebrated.
• Together we can forge women's equality.

At Sainsbury’s, we have many initiatives that support women including tackling gender inequality in our supply chains, introducing new policies to support women in the workplace, and the Sainsbury’s Future Brands programme which features a range of handpicked up-and-coming brands. 

Sainsbury’s Future Brands: celebrating fabulous female-founders

As part of our celebration of International Women’s Day this year, we are shining a spotlight on female-founded brands that are part of our Sainsbury’s Future Brands programme. Future Brands’ purpose is to discover, introduce and scale up tomorrow’s emerging, innovative brands that excite our customers by providing them with the best ranges to shop.

We have a range of fabulous female-founded or female co-founded brands at Sainsbury’s, including Bio & Me (gut-loving granolas and yoghurts), Sauce Shop (carbon negative condiments with no nasties) and UpCircle (beauty products made from repurposed food waste). For International Women’s Day we are shining a light on two of our Sainsbury’s introducing brands, ECO Warrior and Howdah.

A spotlight on: Emma Heathcote-James, founder of ECO Warrior

Q: What inspired you to start your own company?

A: I wanted to enable normal people to live a more sustainable life easily by making simple switches. We have formulated traditionally bottled liquids into bar form, eradicating the need for unnecessary plastic bottles, tubs and tubes that clutter bathrooms and washbags. Our range of beauty, washing and bathing products are entirely plastic free, made in the UK, naturally derived, Cruelty Free, Vegan, RSPO and BCorp accredited. We basically wanted to do the thinking and research for the customer by presenting them with a totally transparent brand.

Q: What does it mean to you, as a female-founded small business, to have been included in the Sainsbury’s introducing programme?

A: We love being a part of the Sainsbury’s introducing family. Sainsbury’s is the only retailer that has a platform for small challenger brands to meet and converse and that is so important for collaboration, to make our voices louder and also for innovation too…

Q: The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias. Can you please tell us about a time when you have broken a bias?

A: When I first began my business, I didn’t realise how important it was for me to step out in front of the logo. It was only when my wife curiously challenged why I'd omitted to celebrate Pride on our social media feeds I realised how wrong I’d been. Yes, I am a woman, yes, I am gay - but I until then had never felt the need to voice either of those things as they had nothing to do with the brand nor did I want to be seen jumping on a bandwagon. So, I posted a photo of our wedding and words to this effect and fast realised how wrong I’d been... of course, both things are a huge part of the brand, our journey and our striving for transparency - and it’s ok. It’s so important to be authentic and to lead - after all, you can’t be what you can’t see...

 A spotlight on: Falu Shah, founder of Howdah

Q: What makes your brand innovative or unique?

A: Usually the flavours of India can only be enjoyed in the UK in an Indian restaurant or at home. We’re bringing those traditional Indian flavours, made using generations-old recipes, to the snacking market so people can enjoy them on the go.

When starting Howdah, I knew that not only did I want to bring amazing tasting snacks to the market, but I wanted to give something back and make sure that the company had a strong ethical element to it. This mission is Give Back As You Snack – for every bag of Howdah snacks we sell, we donate a meal to a child in need through our charitable partner. This is a really unique, but also simple way of giving something back and making food go further.

Q: What does it mean to you, as a female-founded small business, to have been included in the Sainsbury’s introducing programme?

A: It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to take our brand, and our messaging of giving back as you snack, to Sainsbury’s diverse audience. It’s essential that Sainsbury’s champions businesses such as ours that value giving back – It has allowed us to reach an audience that we could not have so quickly without the support.

I feel proud that I am doing my family, and also generations of Indian women’s recipes justice, and it’s so wonderful that these are now on shelf in Sainsbury’s, being eaten by a British audience, miles from home!

Q: The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias. Can you please tell us about a time when you have broken a bias?

A: I feel as a female Indian founder I am breaking down the bias every day.

I have faced huge challenges in breaking down barriers and standing my ground in meetings to move Howdah to the next level. There is still a lot to be done, but I am very passionate about women in business, particularly as a woman from India who has really broken this bias and bucked the trend. That’s why I am particularly passionate about getting girls into education through our 1 for 1 initiative.