"The products were not particularly innovative. The industry was volume based, mainly around the supermarkets, and there was a lot of business on the periphery," Andy told me.

"The rest of the industry tagged along behind the supermarkets. And we were stuck with very similar products for the first seven years of our life.

"Of course, we bought in from different areas to offer better value, but in terms of how the product was made, everyone was asking for something different. But it was very difficult to offer something different."

When consumers started becoming more environmentally aware, it was a massive opportunity for the carrier bag industry.

"The momentum came in 2008," recalls Andy. "There was plenty of interest before, but there wasn't really the infrastructure to produce the potential demand."

In November 2007, Gordon Brown challenged British retailers to reduce the "wasteful use of plastic bags in the interest of the environment and common sense".

A campaign followed, backed by the Daily Mail, resulting in reusable bags becoming embedded in the shopper psyche.  

“Despite the downturn, environmental concerns remain high on the agenda for business and consumers alike," says Andy. "The drawing power of a clear conscience should not be underestimated, especially in our industry where promotional items are often regarded as frivolous or expendable.  We should be harnessing its impact given its importance to our clients buying decisions.

“Using environmentally sound, ethically sourced and reusable items demonstrates a company’s commitment to corporate and social responsibility (CSR), while limiting the impact of their promotional activities on the environment."

Crazy Bags voluntarily work with accredited factories globally including India, China as well as UK printers, and are Fair Trade accredited.

"All of our eco-bags have been sourced to meet our strict environmental standards. It depends on the product a client chooses as to how and why it is environmentally sound, but all our eco-bags are made from sustainable raw materials and are 100% reusable.”

Crazy Bags have been supplying quality carrier bags, promotional bags and environmentally friendly carrier bags for 10 years but they have seen a substantial increase in interest for bags made from eco friendly jute, cotton, non-woven recycled bottles and canvas as an alternative to paper and polythene carriers.

I wondered how that demand had impacted on Crazy Bags.

Traditionally, the company had brought in finished products on a "just in time" basis from the usual sources in India and the Far East, Andy told me.

"Suddenly, people were wanting environmentally friendly bags, but you can't get a bespoke printed bag over to the UK in the three to four week lead time that we work with. You're talking about 10 to 12 weeks from the Far East.

"There was one way around it. People started to airfreight, but that was completely against the principles of producing an eco bag because of the carbon footprint," Andy continues.

"We had a demand for quick lead times, but we weren't able to fulfil them unless we brought a range of eco bags in and were able to bespoke print them in the UK and deliver it in that time – and that's what we did.

"We dipped our toes into the market in 2008 and started bringing in the cotton shoppers – and that's the biggest volume – and we got everything organised in terms of getting everything printed in the UK.

"We started off with the basic cotton shopper, because that was where the demand was, before moving into different areas such as non-woven."

Andy shows me an example made from recycled water bottles.

"The bottles are taken back to China in the empty containers," he says.

"It's incredible. I'm wondering where the technology is going to take us."

Andy admits adding eco products to the portfolio has been a learning curve. "We were offering products that we had never got involved in before."

The company could see what was happening in the supermarkets. "They were spending tens of millions of pounds on plastic carrier bags," Andy told me. "They saw the environmental issue as a perfect opportunity to reduce their costs and they are also seen to be incredibly green."

As a carrier bag producer, that had to be good news for Crazy Bags, I suggest.

"For us, it is potentially good news," Andy responds. "Instead of selling a plastic carrier bag at 10p, we are selling an environmentally friendly bag at a £1."

With environmental issues so entrenched in people's minds, Andy believes that England could soon follow Ireland which introduced a bag tax in 2002, resulting in a 90 per cent reduction in the use of plastic carriers. Wales is set to follow suit next year.

As a company, Crazy Bags actively promote to their customers the importance of recycling all packaging products they supply. "Where possible we promote the use of degradable and recycled products and the reusability of our bags and boxes," says Andy.

I wonder where Andy sees the market going?

"The whole market is going to consolidate for a while now. One of the problems at the moment is that eco products are a lot more expensive so we are actually seeing a surge in plastic bag sales because of price. We need to get through the recession and once the market settles down and money becomes available, interest in these products will start to increase again," he tells me.

"With reduced marketing budgets, companies who can't afford an eco-friendly bag are opting for the next best thing – a biodegradable plastic bag," he adds.

Crazy Bags is rare in that there are very few people who bring their own range to the market themselves. "Our biggest USP is that we don't use another importer," adds Andy.

"We have the whole range, from the cheap and cheerful plastic carrier bag that we can bring in from a factory in China, up to our laminated canvas bags which are the best on the market at £2.50 each and you can have them next week. There isn't one area we don't cover."

In the eco range alone, there are four types of bag. The non-woven polypropylenes are an oil-based product, which is recyclable and reusable, but not sustainable.

Jute is the most popular bag, according to Andy. "It's great as a reusable product, but it's not completely sustainable because it's got a polythene lining. It's not entirely eco friendly, but it's sold on the basis that it's reusable.

Cotton is the most environmentally friendly bag. It's sustainable, 100% biodegradable and reusable.

Crazy Bags is now so heavily involved in eco bags that it imports unprinted stock to be finished in the UK. A company in the Midlands has been contracted to handle storage and distribution.

I ask Andy about Crazy Bags' origins.

"I have been in the carrier bags and packaging industry since the late '70s so I know the industry pretty well," Andy recalls.

"We started off as Crazy Horse Promotions because we were selling not just bags, but promotional merchandise. But my background was carrier bags, so I always pushed that side of the business.

"We became very strong in the promotional merchandise industry, selling to the distributors who were then selling the product on to their clients. Our strength was producing bags for exhibitions and promotions."

Identifying bags as a strength prompted a name change from Crazy Horses to Crazy Bags.

In an industry that very much revolves around keen pricing, I ask Andy how he responds to that.

"We have to balance price as against value and also the ability to supply and the time constraints we have. In the promotional sector we are working to very tight deadlines. Our USP is we're able to bring the product in ourselves. We bring it in from approved factories that I have been over and audited myself.

We're able to offer a range of bags in different materials to support either their budget, or what they like in terms of look etc," Andy says.

For more information, call 01892 752154, email sales@crazybags.co.uk or visit www.crazybags.co.uk

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