Cotopaxi

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<p>Davis Smith founded this outdoor gear brand in 2014 with sustainability as a top priority—guided by the belief that environmental damage amplifies and exacerbates poverty. With that in mind, 97% of Cotopaxi’s products are made from repurposed, recycled, or responsibly sourced materials; the goal is to hit 100% in 2025. The company also earmarks 1% of its annual revenue to the Cotopaxi Foundation, which funds philanthropic efforts in Latin America. Cotopaxi has given $3.3 million to the foundation to date, helping its humanitarian partners reach more than 4.25 million people.</p>

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Plenty of companies in the outdoor apparel and gear space operate as certified B Corps, committed to having a positive social and environmental impact. But Cotopaxi’s “Gear for Good” takes a slightly different tack than its rivals: Rather than fixating on sustainability (which the company says is certainly a priority), the Salt Lake City–based maker of colorful vests and backpacks concentrates on fighting poverty. To that end, Cotopaxi gives away 1% to 3% of its revenue to global nonprofits that provide education in impoverished areas, or shelter to refugee communities. It also runs several programs aimed at improving living conditions for workers at its manufacturing facilities abroad, including building onsite vegetable gardens and offering free English classes for employees’ kids. To date, the company, which was launched 10 years ago, says it has reached an estimated 3.8 million people living in poverty through its impact work. Cotopaxi’s sales are also increasing: The company, which has been profitable for the past four years, is expected to pull in $160 million in revenue in 2023, up from $55 million two years ago.

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Get insights into Cotopaxi including business profile, stock information, news, and rankings from Fortune.

Cotopaxi Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings

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Cotopaxi | Fortune

Cotopaxi Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings | Fortune

The founder of this outdoor gear and apparel brand believes business is the best way to change the world.

Leadership Next: Cotopaxi CEO, Davis Smith

Leadership

Anyone has read tomorrow's Capitalist from, you know, the Allen wrote it, isn't it? Is it many times it should be required reading. I quiz Ellen on it. Welcome to leadership. Next, the podcast about the changing rules of business leadership. I'm Alan Murray and I'm Ellen mcgirt. Why take on Patagonia, which is, which is one of the most focused companies you could compete with. So number one, it's a space I'm passionate about. You know, my, I grew up in a family, my dad was an adventurer. So from the time I was a child, we spent time in the outdoors. Uh We'd go survive on uninhabited islands. We made our own spears and spear fish and eat coconuts to survive. We made our own raft and floated the Amazon River fishing for piranha. I mean, my life as a kid was odd. Uh you know, I thought this was normal behavior to go do these kind of things and, but I loved the outdoors and so I felt a special connection to it. Also, I knew that if I wanted to go do something big, if I wanted to go help eradicate extreme poverty in my lifetime. I have needed to choose a category that was massive. Uh We needed to have a huge tama, total addressable market. I knew the outdoor industry had many billion dollar brands. The question was, could we break through if we could, we could go make a huge mark. I hired a chief impact officer before we hired a marketer. And I remember my board in the early days. Kind of like, wait Davis, are you sure about this? Like, why are you hiring someone to give away your money better before you've made money? And like, maybe we should focus on like marketing more. And my argument was like the only that that really sets us apart from everyone else is that we're going to do impact better than anyone else. And if we can do that from the very beginning, we have this great foundation of giving and we understand how to have the greatest impact. That's what's going to set us apart and create an opportunity to go build the next iconic outdoor brand. I believe the way that I could have the biggest impact on fighting and eradicating poverty was by not just being focused on my own brand, but by inspiring thousands of other businesses and millions of consumers to join in this movement of doing good in the world. And so yes, I feel like a big part of my responsibility as the founder of cotopaxi, which I am going to be forever. Uh And currently, the CEO uh is to evangelize this idea that business can be a force for good in the world. And that we have a responsibility to transform capitalism. We have to do capitalism much better than we have. Uh As you talked about in your book, there's a third way. And um you know, I hope that we can be an example to other businesses of how to do that.

Davis Smith, Founder and CEO, Cotopaxi 
Interviewer: Ruth Umoh, FORTUNE

Impact Initiative 2022 - The Uncommon Path

Conferences

Welcome to What The Tech, I'm Lisa Marie, and we are checking out this very colorful Cotopaxi bag. [ MUSIC ] For my latest trip, I used this Cotopaxi bag as my carry on luggage. And while it served me pretty well I did have some issues with it. First off, you're going to notice it's really colorful. I personally was not a big fan of that they do have some options, but they're all pretty colorful. So it's up to you if that's something that you're interested in. That said their colors come from the fact that they use these recycled materials And leftover products to put the bags together which is really nice. Cotopaxi his whole brand is gear for good. And part of that is making sure all of these fabrics and materials are used, which is great, but personally, I could do without the color. [ SOUND ] You're probably going to keep most of your things in this main compartment. It opens up just like a regular suitcase, which is really nice, The largest pack of storage I use for things like clothes, tops, bottoms, socks, all of that. And then I would use these smaller compartments for things like chargers and jewelry. It's really nice because it keeps things neat and separate so you're not going through all of your shorts to find your charger. When you go into this pocket, I really like it to put an extra pair of shoes. Or things like my hair brush or makeup or my curling iron. It offers enough space for those things without having to put it in between your clothes. And looking at how How you can store your tack? It has this compartment and it offers some tatted storage for your laptop. Since it has its separate zipper as well, you can take your laptop out through security really easily or if you want to pull it out while you're on the plane and you don't want to have to go through all of your things. It's really convenient. It has a separate pocket as well. You can put your charger, I put my iPad in there because it was small enough It lays flat without taking up more room than it needs to. You also have this smaller pocket in the front. I loved it because it was good for a small notebook or pens and pencils that I like to have it It's also great if you wanna keep your passport or your wallet there and just have really easy access to it. Since it's right in the front. You have this strap which comes in a little bit higher and you have this one which is more secure and kind of secures it to your waist. You also have these handles so you can pick it up with one arm. And it's on the top, it's in both sides. But if it's too heavy for your back, then it might be too heavy to carry with one arm. The materials are also really durable, it's water resistant, and it's good for something like for a hike. Cotopaxi doesn't just make travel bags that also makes bag for outdoor activities, and it has lots of straps, You can connect your water bottle, or anything else to a carabiner And hook it onto all of the straps. They're all over the bag, so you can do it in whatever way is most convenient to you. It also meant that I wasn't afraid to check it, and when I did finally have to spot it in a sea of other suitcases, I had no problem figuring out that this was my bag. [ MUSIC ] I thought the Cotopaxi bag would be a lot more comfortable than it was. I went away for about five days, and I realized that I was pushing it. This is a bag for a two, three day trip, tops. More than that, and you're going to have a sore back the next day. I know that when I was going through the airport, I just felt like this is why suitcases have wheels. This comes at $ 180 if you really want to buy into that gear for good model, and you want to support them because you believe in the idea of reusing fabrics and materials, which is Great, then this is a good bag, but it is $ 180 and for that I don't think this Cotopaxi bag stands out. [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

This One Of A Kind Travel Pack Is Made From 100% Recycled Materials

Tech

Cotopaxi combines durability with sustainability.

This Backpack Is Made From 100% Recycled Materials

The Allpa 35L Del Dia travel pack might be one of the most functional backpacks on the markets. Cotopaxi's most colorful line combines durability with sustainability.

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi in Fortune Rankings

Cotopaxi in Fortune Rankings

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