How M’sian gifting startup Kravve has pivoted to help corporates achieve their ESG goals

[Written in partnership with Kravve, but the editorial team had full control over the content.]

At Vulcan Post, we’re no strangers to Kravve. Back in 2017, when the brand first started, we featured the gifting brand and its marketplace platform for small businesses.

Back then, the startup was mainly serving the B2C market, where customers could choose from an array of homemade products, such as spreads, noodles, and snacks. 

But recently, Kravve has shifted its focus to the B2B market, with a strong focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) to provide culturally-rich, sustainably-made corporate gifts.

Taking inspiration from a past failure

Speaking to us, the 30-year-old entrepreneur explained that the inspiration for Kravve came on a Sunday morning in 2017. At the time, his mother eagerly shared that her homemade pumpkin jam was a hit amongst their relatives and neighbours.

With Chinese New Year around the corner, he suggested they start selling the jam. Unfortunately, the venture didn’t take off, but it did lead him to a significant realisation.

“That experience opened my eyes. The problem wasn’t unique to my mother, it was shared by many talented individuals who lacked the means or knowledge to monetise their skills,” he stated.

Thus, he launched Kravve as a platform to empower local entrepreneurs, particularly those from modest backgrounds.

But what does being ESG-focused even mean?

This goal of providing local artisans with opportunities to monetise their skills hasn’t changed in the past six years. The brand’s core vision remains the same as ever despite Kravve’s shift in the segment it serves. 

The difference is that they’re now taking a stronger approach to align with their ambitions of being an ESG-focused gifting company.

If you haven’t heard, ESG is basically a framework for sustainable and ethical business practices. It touches on aspects like how a company safeguards the environment, how it manages human-to-human relationships, and how it’s being led by the people up top. 

Companies can implement their own efforts to meet ESG goals, such as providing fair pay and living wages. But there are also easier ways of achieving these goals externally, which is what Kravve aims to help with, through its gifting services.

To break it down, Kravve focuses on three main sustainable development goals (SDG) by the United Nations:

• SDG 8 – Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• SDG 12 – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• SDG 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Blending sustainability with custom gifting

How it works is that Kravve partners with your next-door aunts and uncles who create homemade F&B treats (like cookies and jams) and also local craftsmen. Together, the brand then curates custom gift sets that are tailored to a client’s specific needs.

Take the custom-designed Deepavali gift boxes they made for Mercedes-Benz for example. 

Kravve worked with local home chefs to create exclusive items like Torch Ginger Flower Preserve and Roselle Citrus Jams. Along with that were traditional Indian delicacies including Mysore Pak, cumin-infused shortbread, and dry kachori.

The gifting company also custom-designed a multi-purpose satin cloth with traditional festive patterns alongside the Mercedes-Benz logo. On top of being aesthetically pleasing, receivers could repurpose it as a handkerchief, decorative piece, or even a tablecloth.

Through this, they provide income opportunities to small local businesses, which in turn supports the Malaysian economy.

Aside from working with local artisans, the brand also uses sustainable materials in its products. For example, they offer stone paper notebooks, reusable packaging containers made of rattan, laptop bags made of upcycled materials, and cups or coasters made of reclaimed wood.

Committed to sharing the essence of a gift

Since transitioning to a B2B model, Yong Lin shared that they’ve been able to focus more on refining Kravve’s product offerings, and provide higher quality services. 

“This improvement is largely due to the increased volume of our operations, which also allows us to offer more personalised solutions to our clients.”

“We believe that the essence of a gift lies in its ability to surprise and delight. A gift, in our view, should always contain an element of surprise.”

To Yong Lin, repetitive gifting of the same products can eventually become mundane and lose its ability to genuinely surprise the recipient. Which is why he described Kravve as more of a creative agency.

He told us that the brand designs each gift based on an in-depth study of the company, the event in question, and the recipient’s demographics. This adds a personal touch as opposed to just slapping a logo onto the gifts. 

In line with this, Kravve also assigns an account manager to each client to ensure consistent contact. The account manager will set up a dedicated WhatsApp group to provide direct channel support.

Providing easy access to sustainability efforts

Sharing with us, Yong Lin explained that his goal with Kravve is to show that there isn’t just one solution to corporate sustainability. And neither does it have to be a large, drastic change.

“In our field, companies can start with small, conscious changes, immediately shifting their gift budgets towards options that uplift local communities and benefit the environment,” he said.

At the same time, it’s a way of showcasing how sustainability and ESG-focused practices don’t necessarily require additional spending. “Our approach allows clients to switch from their usual gifting choices to more sustainable options within the same budget.”

Realistically, though, Yong Lin acknowledged that it could be challenging for all of Kravve’s offerings to meet every SDG. Hence, the brand will focus on ensuring that each product aligns with at least one of Kravve’s chosen SDG.

While the gifting industry is quite saturated in Malaysia, it seems that Kravve has found itself an interesting niche. And according to a report by GiftAFeeling, it seems that the brand’s focus on personalisation and eco-conscious gifting seems to match current consumer behaviours.

• Learn more about Kravve here.
• Read articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Kravve