Why Target?

Klean’s President and CEO Jim Osgood explains the reasoning behind why Klean has made a move into Target.

At Klean Kanteen, we’re in business for good. And it’s been that way from the start. Our family-owned company introduced a stainless steel, BPA-free, reusable bottle in 2004 because we wanted a safe, non-toxic alternative to plastic water bottles.

In the early days, many of our first customers were small, specialty outdoor and natural food / co-op retailers. As news of the dangers of BPA spread, Klean Kanteen business grew quickly, but we stayed loyal to small retailers, managing our growth carefully, sustainably and resisted the urge to sell to “big box” stores out of concern that our message, mission and values might get lost in large format stores.

Over ten years later, our vision hasn’t changed; however, the world has. Fast-paced lifestyles and to-go culture predominate. To create the impact we want to see in the world and help people move towards healthy, reusable solutions, we need to connect with more mainstream consumers.

This brings us to Target, a new partnership for Klean Kanteen.

Earlier this year, Target invited Klean to join an ever-growing offering of sustainable, wellness-oriented brands appealing to their conscious guests. With thousands of doors and reach, partnering with a mass retailer like Target was not a decision we took lightly. However, as we familiarized ourselves with the brand, we began to understand their commitment to sustainability, conscious consumerism and wellness, which closely aligned with our core values.

Target agreed to promote our mission as a solution to single-use products in store—a unique opportunity for Klean to share our message with a mainstream audience and have an even more profound, real effect in reducing single-use waste in our daily lives.

For Klean, products are only part of the solution. From the rigorous social and environmental standards of our business to the issues we support, partnerships we keep and way we show up to reduce waste at festivals and events around the world, we do everything we can to prevent and reduce single-use waste – period. To date, we’ve donated over $1.5 million dollars to environmental non-profits through our partnership with 1% for the Planet. We’re also proudly a Certified B Corporation, committed to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.

We remain as loyal as ever to the small retailers who have supported our mission from the start, and we are equally committed to reaching out, connecting and inspiring an even broader group of consumers about the benefits of choosing reusable solutions, every day.  

We appreciate all the support from our fans and customers over the years and we’re looking forward to continuing our commitment to make the world a better place. Now, more than ever, we want to make it easier to #BringYourOwn®.