There is a moment that happens early in almost every sustainability consultancy engagement. The brief has been signed, the kick-off call has been had, everyone is energised about the work ahead. And then in comes the first data request.

What follows is rarely quick.

I know this because I’ve experienced it personally from both sides. At Avallen Solutions, the sustainability consultancy I founded in 2024, one of our earliest engagements involved working with a brand who had great ambition, huge energy, and wonderfully passionate and talented people. I met with the senior leadership team and we had an extremely productive workshop and set ambitious, but achievable targets. Everyone was excited.

Then the problem arose that began to slow and block the progress we all wanted to make. Their data was spread across their whole business, multiple departments, a large number of people, and one managing director who was my sole contact who, entirely reasonably, had other things to do. Every request went through him, every follow-up went through him and eventually the entire project stalled, not from lack of passion or ambition, but through a lack of organised data in a platform that multiple people could contribute too. That project was one of the defining reasons why I built alkatera.

The truth about sustainability consulting is that a significant portion of a projects time goes not on the thinking, the strategy, or the recommendations, but on the administrative work of finding out what data exists, where it is, and whether it can be trusted. For the brand paying the bill, that is an expensive inefficiency, as data requests need to be fulfilled by staff, taking valuable time away from their regular work to complete spreadsheets, answer surveys, and gather data. For the consultant, it is the least interesting and most frustrating part of the job. I know this as I’ve both worked with consultants and run my own consultancy.

alkatera was built to solve exactly this problem.

When a company is already using alkatera, everything is in one place. Production numbers, supply chain figures, impact calculations already run, and social/governance data are centralised, structured, and easy to access. When a sustainability consultant comes in, they are not starting with a data hunt by sending excel templates to be completed and waiting on email replies, they are starting with a comprehensive platform filled with detailed, live data that they can access 24/7, without adding to the companies workload.

The difference in project economics is significant. Less time on data collection means more time on analysis, interpretation, strategic planning, and the recommendations that actually move the needle. For brands, that means a consultancy engagement that is far more effective and efficient. For consultants, it means they can do the work they are good at rather than chasing data in spreadsheets across departments.

Now that I’ve laid out how alkatera can unlock efficiencies and effectiveness of working with consultants, I’m very excited to announce that we’ve formalised this relationship through a new partnership with Impact Focus, leading sustainability experts specialising in the drinks industry.

Impact Focus will be our recommended partner for brands that want expert strategic guidance alongside the platform alongside a plethora of other services such as support for certifications like B Corp and EcoVadis, marketing and storytelling expertise to help you communicate your sustainability achievements effectively, and how to turn the insights you create with alkatera into meaningful action

Together, we offer something that neither of us could alone: the data infrastructure and the human expertise as a unified force to achieve far more than the sum of our individual parts.

If you are a drinks brand thinking about your sustainability obligations, or a consultancy looking at how platforms like alkatera could change the shape of your projects, we would be glad to talk.