Kevin and Jonathan met whilst working for the natural food and beauty manufacturer Lea Nature, a French based producer that only makes products to EcoCert standards. They had such a high ethical focus that they published the names of the farmers harvesting their aloe vera leaves in Mexico and Morocco. Unless the consumer dug deep into the corporate website of the company there was no way to communicate this side of the business. If only the consumers knew!
This was the frustration that prompted the dream that led to Buyerdock, the first digital product passport. Kevin and Jonathan knew that if you could give a consumer more information about all the great ethical brands out in the market place, it would force un-ethical manufacturers to change or go out of business.
Buyerdock took shape giving companies the ability to tell their story to the consumer, not just pre-sale, but once the product was at the consumer’s home post-purchase.
The first product to carry a 2D QR Barcode was a packet of Chicken Crackling using the Buyerdock ‘moreinfo’ app, it was showcased by GS1 UK in July 2022.
Later, in October 2022, Jonathan and Kevin met Phil Archer (from GS1 global and one of the pioneers of GS1 digital link) in a pub in Kings Cross and handed him a bag of chicken crackling, it felt like a moment as Phil said “This is the first 2D QR code I’ve seen on a product”.
As the tech behind Buyerdock grew, new packaging regulations were being passed and introduced in the EU to help support the development of a Circular Economy, that could be delivered digitally. The Buyerdock team saw an opportunity to support and help businesses (of all sizes) navigate their way through this new regulation and at the same time make it meaningful to the consumer who will ultimately make or break the success of the Circular Economy.
This is Buyerdock and the people who work at Buyerdock. We believe that by empowering consumers with the visibility of the supply chain and providing options for disposal once that product has been used, we can create a world that re-uses more than is manufactured and has a future for us all.
The circular economy presents us ‘consumers’ with a completely new way of living our lives. From locally grown food to new ways of reusing 2nd hand products. No longer should a secondhand item be seen as a low-cost option for those on low income but cherished and celebrated as it passes through the third and fourth user hands. Buyerdock is working in partnership with Government, Academia, NGO’s and industry to bring this vision to life, an obtainable vision of the future not a dream.
The scale of the opportunity means that no one solution provider or business, government or NGO can deliver everything, the team at Buyerdock have set out to form as many partnerships as possible with key stake holders.
Once a month we meet at the Circular Economy Exchange in London to come together and share ideas. Please feel free to join us.
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Jonathan Sparkes
Co-founder & CEO
Kevin Dixie
Co-founder & COO
Martin Assheton
CTO
James Phelan
CXO
Shona Wright
Lead Developer
Teresa McArdell
Support Coordinator
Andy Thomas
Sales Manager
David McArdell
Sales Support
