Thanks to products designed and designed here, in Quebec, kotmo wants to revolutionize the world of corporate promotional items. And this, while advising business leaders on the best choices for durable and reusable items.
Kotmo was born eight years ago, from the initiative of Céline Juppeau. It was while attending business events that she noticed that there were few or no ecological choices for promotional items. “I heard companies talking about sustainable development, recycling, buying local… and I left with a USB key made in China,” recalls the founder of kotmo.
With a master’s degree in architecture and design obtained in her native France, she then set out to find a solution to offer to the business world. “Objects that have a reflection behind them so that companies can buy items that are related to their values”, says the one who believes that “great changes in society go through companies”.
A circular economy
Kotmo’s trademark: to offer eco-designed objects, taking into account the origin of the materials and the manufacturing method. “We are going to promote social reintegration companies in manufacturing or assembly. We will use certified recycled or recyclable material as much as possible, ”explains Cindy Couture, co-owner, partner and director of sustainable innovation at kotmo.
The company also puts a lot of effort into research and development to create its own products. “Usually, on the market, it is mainly distributors of promotional items. We do both,” adds Ms. Couture. Kotmo still has a few items available only in distribution. The company justifies this decision “because we cannot find them in local manufacture even today and that removes single-use objects on the market”, specifies the co-owner.
Preferred materials often come from recycling. “So we are not creating a new material. The idea is also to know, at the end of the product’s life, what we do with it. We don’t throw it away just to bury it underground, ”explains Ms. Juppeau. “Constant” research work for kotmo, underlines its founder.
Prioritize quality over quantity
Pens, reusable bags made from recycled plastic bottles, felt laptop bags, wooden items… With around a hundred products in its catalog, kotmo wants to focus on the quality of the items offered. “For us, it doesn’t make sense to give objects just to give objects,” summarizes Ms. Couture. She also presents an alternative solution to her clients in order to guide them towards sustainable choices.
“We regularly suggest reducing the number of items ordered. You don’t have to give an object to everyone to make your brand known. We want to create a meaningful relationship in the first place,” she says.
“There are these reflections to ensure that we don’t offer the same object all the time, but really use the product as a marketing tool, a way of materializing its brand image,” adds Ms. Juppeau.
For the sake of durability, kotmo favors objects that will last a maximum of years, specifies Ms. Couture. Thus, the company designs “simple and useful items that are not necessarily part of a trend that will be out in a year or two,” she explains.
A waste and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction approach that is at the very heart of kotmo’s DNA. “Can we, for example, consolidate deliveries and, if something has to be imported from overseas, ensure that it comes by boat and not by plane? illustrates Ms. Juppeau. To reduce its carbon footprint in terms of transport, the company has also chosen to make all its deliveries on the island of Montreal by bicycle.
To encourage business people to imitate it and thus become a true vector of change, kotmo measures its social and environmental impact. “Eight years ago, it was still an effort. There weren’t a lot of companies that chose local,” remembers Céline Juppeau.
In order to keep her company’s ecological mission a priority, the founder of kotmo therefore obtained B Corp certification, which “puts profit, people and the planet on the same level”, she believes. Thus, the company’s objective remains above all to have a social and environmental impact, adds Ms. Juppeau. “It’s really about thinking about a business differently. »
This content was produced by Le Devoir’s special publications team in collaboration with the advertiser. Le Devoir’s editorial team had no role in the production of this content.
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