BIDBI

BIDBI manufactures and prints cloth bags, as an eco-friendly, fairtrade, alternative to plastic bags. Our product acts as a sustainable marketing tool, or ethical fashion accessory for a diverse range of clients. Employing over 40 people, we have carved a niche in the bag printing industry as a creatively driven and complex print specialist and cotton bag manufacturer based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

An ethical and ecological business model underpins everything we do. We are a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) accredited processing facility; as part of our GOTS accreditation we installed a water filtration and rainwater harvesting system, allowing us to reuse our water and eliminate any toxic matter that would have been released into the water system. We only use water-based inks, that are GOTS accredited and therefore organic. We measure our gas, electric, and water usage per bag and use a traffic light system to highlight any increases. 

Since 2018 we have increased our Fairtrade and Organic products, it now makes up 36% of our product range, and we have committed to increase this. We have a dedicated R&D department which researches sustainable materials. We have seen an increase in the interest for ethical and sustainable materials from our customers. During 2020 the amount of Fairtrade and Organic sales was 40% of our total sales, an increase of 20% on the previous year.

Other initiatives we have in place are recycling the boxes our products are delivered in to repackage finished items to send to clients. We donate our misprints and faults to local and national charities helping charities lessen their reliance on single use plastic bags but also ensure our bags don’t end up in landfill. One of the central aims of the marketing strategy is to raise awareness about environmental issues, minimising impact, and educating clients on how to be more sustainable.