Sustainability costs do not disappear when a product is cheap. The real question is who pays: customers, workers or the environment.
Archived Project Mindset post, originally published in 2023. Dates and roles reflect the original publication.
Sustainability costs and the price of cheap products
Well below €2.50 per kilogram: that was the price I described for a seller importing kettlebells from China, including freight. They are then sold with a small markup through Amazon and elsewhere, with further packaging and transport.
From experience, German sports-equipment manufacturers producing locally cannot compete with those prices. For price-sensitive products, most customers simply want the lowest price.
At the same time, everyone calls for sustainability, better supply chains and Made in Germany.
After years with our BERG brand, my conclusion is that many demand local production or sustainability, but few want to pay for it.
Someone pays regardless: if not the customer, then nature, poorly paid workers, inadequate workplace safety or something else bears the cost.
Sustainability begins with small things. Everyone can participate.
More in the Project Mindset archive (German) and the Reza Mehman Podcast.
