Today as part of my ‘Spotlight On‘ series, I wanted to shine the light on the Thankyou Movement, which is a social enterprise based out of Melbourne. Their model is similar to that of Who Gives A Crap whereby the products they sell provide a directly linked benefit to a community in need, but this time it’s through food, water and body care products.
Thankyou started back in 2008 as Thankyou Water, selling bottled water which used its profits to fund safe water projects in developing nations. I remember seeing the water around a lot in the last few years, but as I don’t buy bottled water it wasn’t something I was able to get involved with. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the addition of another bottled water onto the market, even one with such good intentions, but recently I heard Daniel Flynn (Co-Founder of Thankyou) interviewed on the radio as he has just been awarded the Victorian Young Australian of the Year Award and he addressed this very concern by saying the way they promoted the water was to emphasise that if you weren’t buying bottled water they didn’t want you to start, but if you were then why not choose the one that would make a difference. Given Australians spend $600 million a year on bottled water (let’s just let that figure sink in for a second!) it makes sense that at least some of that money should be headed towards positive, useful projects.
Now the Thankyou Movement has expanded into a range of food and body care products, with sales of those products being used to fund food and hygiene solutions. According to their website:
- Each bottle of water provides at least one months worth of safe water,
- Each food sale provides a weeks worth of food and a contribution to long term food projects; and
- Each body product provides access to health and hygiene training to someone in need.
These are all good reasons to support their work I think! The great thing is you can actually track your impact through their website by using the code provided on the product you purchased – how’s that for transparency!
On to the range! The Thankyou Body Care range includes Hand Wash and Hand Lotion in both sweet orange & almond and sandalwood & lavender scents, as well as an Antibacterial lemon & lime Hand Sanitiser. The Thankyou Food range includes Oats (rolled, and quick in both fig & prune and apple & flame raisin), Muesli (fig & pear, vanilla & nut and cranberry & current), Muesli Clusters (apple & apricot) and Muesli Bars (nut, apricot & nut and cranberry & pepita).
I purchased the Half Toasted Muesli in Cranberry & Current with Almonds and Cashews to try and was super impressed. It was full of nuts and fruit (and therefore full of flavour!) – just look at the great mix! When they expanded into the food venture, Thankyou brought Callum Hann (of Masterchef fame) on as their ‘Chief Taste Operator’, and I think this was a good move – he clearly knows his stuff!
I particularly like that they fund projects that are not only useful in the short term, but that also help to provide some long term resilience for these communities. Empowerment and sustainable change (in every sense of the word) is so important to ensure a long lasting change can be brought about, so it’s great to see that being acknowledged through the work Thankyou is doing.
The Thankyou products are stocked in a range of stores and are slowly making their way into the big-two supermarkets, which should make it easier for everyone to get their hands on them. I would highly recommend you giving the food a try, and I know I’ll be trying out the body care products as soon as I can as well. It’s great that there are fast becoming ways for us to give back whilst going about our everyday lives, and I think the people behind these organisations need all the support they can get!
Have you tried any Thankyou products? I’d love to hear what you think!
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I Spy Plum Pie is Liz, an early 30s kiwi-born, Melbourne raised girl who is passionate about the environment and sustainability, food, exploring and learning new things. Join me on my journey to a happy, sustainable life!
Ashlee
November 14, 2013 at 10:08 am (10 years ago)Wonderful post! I tried the bars recently and actually just posted about them today. I wanted to write more about the company, but flagged it as something to come back to in a separate post… You’ve said everything I wanted to say! I echo your thoughts about the water and was equally pleased about the short/long term project balance. Would you mind if I posted the link to this post? Ashlee
Ps. I can’t wait to try the museli!
I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
November 14, 2013 at 10:13 am (10 years ago)Thanks Ashlee! Glad to hear I could summarise your thoughts for you! I’d be more than happy to for you to post a link to here, no problem at all! Thanks for your lovely comment!