These businesses are proof that radical transparency, sustainability, and social impact can drive lasting success

The Ordinary has built a cult following in the beauty industry by rejecting the notion that luxury prices equate to quality. From its inception, the brand’s parent company, DECIEM, emphasised radical transparency and consumer education. “We really want people to become educated within the beauty space — to know exactly what they are putting on their skin and to understand if they are overpaying for ingredients,” Nicola Kilner, co-founder of The Ordinary, explains​.

This core principle underpinned The Ordinary’s foundation: Take well-researched, commodity skincare ingredients and offer them at honest price points​. The result is high-quality serums and solutions priced at a fraction of competitors’ offerings, directly challenging conventional profit margins in cosmetics.

This commitment to integrity goes beyond pricing. In an age of rampant greenwashing, The Ordinary chooses candour over convenient marketing. “DECIEM is not a sustainable beauty company… any business based on consumption (including ours) cannot be truly and fully sustainable,” Kilner openly admits​.

Rather than pretend to have all the answers, they “want to be transparent about where we are on this journey”, owning up to imperfections while working to minimise environmental impact. Such honesty is almost unheard of in an industry that often touts vague eco-friendly claims; it’s a principled stance that resonates with consumers who “can see dishonesty, and they want transparency”.

Still, staying true to these values hasn’t always been easy. Early on, the founders worried that honest pricing could be mistaken for using inferior ingredients, but they held their ground and doubled down on educating customers​. Over time, consumers became more knowledgeable “about what they put on their skin, and what should be a fair price for it”​.

The payoff has been profound: “The Ordinary’s success is proof that affordable pricing does not need to compromise quality, and this ethos has inspired real change in the cosmetics industry.”

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The Ordinary also isn’t afraid to challenge popular narratives in beauty. In 2021, DECIEM’s scientific team launched an educational campaign called “Everything is Chemicals” to push back against fear-based “clean beauty” trends. The campaign aimed to highlight ingredient safety and counter the notion that synthetic ingredients are inherently harmful.

Of course, such a bold move ruffled feathers: “We faced some backlash as this launched at a time when the ‘clean beauty’ movement was particularly popular”, Kilner recalls​.

But they also received an outpouring of support and “learned of the growing desire for honesty and transparency in beauty brands”​. By leading with science and transparency, The Ordinary further cemented its role as a truth-teller in an industry prone to hype.

Brewing a better future beyond profit

Just as The Ordinary transformed skincare through integrity, Singapore’s Bettr Coffee is brewing change in the food and beverage world with its social-first ethos. Founded as a social enterprise, Bettr Coffee’s core purpose is to uplift lives through coffee education and employment, especially for disadvantaged communities. This mission drives strategic decisions at every turn.

Pamela Chng, founder and CEO of Bettr Coffee, recounts a defining choice early in the company’s journey: “One pivotal moment was when we chose to expand the Bettr Academy instead of pursuing rapid commercial growth for Bettr Coffee. The market was ripe for scaling the coffee business, but we knew our deeper purpose was transforming lives through education and employment. That choice wasn’t the most commercially strategic on paper, but it was true to who we are”​.

Still, aligning business growth with social mission has presented challenges along the way. For example, Bettr Coffee committed to paying fair wages and ensuring ethical practices across its supply chain, even if it raised costs from day one.

“While this increased our production costs and made our products slightly more expensive than competitors, we remained transparent with our customers about our pricing and the reasons behind it,” Chng notes​. The team would openly explain that a cup of Bettr coffee costs a bit more because it supports farmers’ and staff’s living incomes.

This honesty paid off: Their stance “resonated with a significant portion of our customer base”, attracting loyal patrons who “were willing to pay a premium for products that aligned with their values”​.

Importantly, Bettr’s mission-driven approach has started influencing the wider food and beverage industry. Consumers are increasingly conscious of the story behind their cup of coffee, expecting transparency and positive impact. By proving that a coffee company can thrive because of its social mission (not despite it), Bettr provides a blueprint for others to follow.

Powering growth with principles

Meanwhile, in the energy sector, Flo Energy Singapore proves that even a utility company can be deeply mission-driven. Flo is the country’s fastest-growing independent electricity retailer, but its growth strategy centres on an ambitious purpose.

“At Flo, our mission is to switch as many people as possible to affordable, renewable solutions. This vision shapes every aspect of our business, from strategy to hiring,” says co-founder and CEO Matthijs Guichelaar, noting that they recruit individuals who “genuinely believe in our mission” because that shared purpose fuels motivation and culture​.

The company codifies its core values in the acronym FAST — Flexibility, Affordability, Sustainability, Transparency​ — and these are far more than buzzwords on a poster. They guide day-to-day decisions and long-term planning alike.

One pivotal decision illustrating Flo’s values in action was building an open, transparent company culture, reflecting the “T” in FAST. “Many companies talk about transparency, but important information is often still gatekept in practice. At Flo, we take a different approach,” Guichelaar explains​.

Flo operates with an unusually flat structure where “anyone, regardless of role, can reach out to managers or leadership without worrying about hierarchy”. While not the norm in corporate environments, this openness fosters trust, better communication and faster problem-solving.

As Flo expanded into Australia in 2024, this principle was tested. Navigating different working cultures across countries required adaptability, but Flo stayed true to its ethos. By “prioritising openness and a shared sense of purpose,” they successfully integrated teams in two regions, proving that their culture is “not just an internal philosophy — it’s a key driver of our growth”​.

Across these companies, purpose is woven into every operation. The Ordinary, Bettr Coffee, and Flo Energy Singapore challenge business norms through radical transparency, social impact investing, uncompromising sustainability, and open culture.

“Purpose and culture aren’t trends — they’re the future of sustainable business,” says Chng. In a world of conscious consumers, these mission-driven leaders offer a blueprint for lasting success indeed.