This guide applies to Packaging Suppliers. If you are not a packaging supplier, you can view our guides for Food & Ingredient Suppliers or Growers instead.
Welcome! Your customer is working to collect sustainability data across their supply chain, and your participation helps enable more accurate, product-level insights. This article walks you through how to get started and what to expect.
Overview
What is SupplierConnect?
HowGood’s SupplierConnect platform instantly calculates your product footprints and simplifies sustainability reporting to your customers.
Each step is designed to make it easier for you to share sustainability data securely and efficiently - while also gaining insights into your own products.
Your product footprints are calculated in-platform using the basic component and sourcing data you provide. Sharing footprints to your customer is seamless, secure, and can be completed directly in SupplierConnect.
If you submit material data in SupplierConnect, your customer will see the specific material commodities (e.g., 'Bauxite/Aluminum' or 'Virgin Wood Pulp') and the associated sourcing locations and standards. This level of detail is essential for customers to calculate the circularity and end-of-life impact of their packaging choices.
Key Features
Pre-populated product lists. HowGood uploads the list of products for which your customer has requested sustainability data - so you have immediate visibility into what needs to be done.
Automatic product footprint calculations. Enter basic product component and sourcing details, and SupplierConnect instantly calculates accurate sustainability metrics.
Shared insights. Access carbon and water footprints for each of your products.
Flexible data submission. Add as much or as little product information as you have, refining later as needed. You don’t need to pre-calculate any sustainability data. Option available to upload your existing LCAs or other emissions documentation.
Always secure and confidential. The data you provide stays private. Your product data is never shared with customers - they only see product footprints.
Step 1: Logging in and Setting Up Your Account
Creating your password: Once you register for SupplierConnect, you will receive an email from Anna at HowGood ([email protected]) with the subject line 'Create your SupplierConnect password.' Click the link in that email to create your SupplierConnect account if you do not already have an account.*
Adding a team member: To add a team member, you can send them a link to the registration form and they can create their own SupplierConnect account.
Viewing your products: After you log in, you’ll find the list of products your customer is requesting information for. If you don't see the list of products, please reach out to us via the in-app chat to let us know.
*Managing multiple customer requests: If you have already responded to a previous customer request in SupplierConnect and have received a request from a different customer, please register again for SupplierConnect (with your original email but with the new customer listed), and then log in to SupplierConnect with your original email and password. Once you're logged in, you should be able to see both of those Customer Requests in your SupplierConnect account.
Step 2: Adding Company-Level Information
On the Customer Products page, click the tile called Company Profile.
Under the General Profile tab, add your responses for each of the three questions:
Do you have a carbon reduction plan in place?
Have you set a target with SBTi?
Which of the following are you measuring?
Click Submit when finished.
Once your product list is loaded, you’ll see each product (usually your packaging materials or components) along with a status column.
Step 3: Adding Product-Level Information
Remember that the data you enter will NOT be shared with your customer - they only receive the product footprints. Your data stays private and secure.
OPTION 1: Add product data directly in SupplierConnect
At first, the product status will show as:
Not Started for all items
Carbon Footprint will be blank
Overall completion tracker at the top will show 0% products complete
Click on a product to open its details page.
Add Component Details
Add Packaging Components (ie: Glass container, PP Caps)
For each component, you can add:
Type (ie: Primary)
Sourcing Location (ie: Netherlands)
Processing Location* (ie: Mexico)
Weight* (g) - this denotes how much of each packaging component is in your finished product (ie: if you have a paper product that is 50% paper and 50% recycled paper, you might enter 10g and 10g for each)
Consumer Units* (ie: 1)
# of Uses*
Add Packaging Details
Final Packaging Weight* (g) - this is the sum of the weight of individual components and will auto-populate after you enter the Weight for each component. You do not need to manually enter this, especially if you are submitting data that is representative of an aggregate that you sell to your customer.
Manufacturing Region* (ie: United States)
On-site Packaging Transformation* (ie: Labeling glass bottle)
Metric Tons/yr Ordered - this is the total volume that you sell to your customer. This is not a required field.
When finished, click Save. Your product footprint will be automatically generated in SupplierConnect. A banner will appear reminding you to click Share Footprint. This is how you submit the product to your customer. Until you do this step, your customer won’t see the footprint.
Click the Share Footprint button after saving each product. This changes the status from “Saved” to “Submitted for Sharing.” Once shared, your customer can begin analyzing the data for sustainability insights. You can share product footprints one at a time. There’s no need to wait until all are completed.
NOTE: The following fields are required to generate Product Carbon Footprints:
Packaging Component*
Per Component:
Processing location*
Weight (g)*
Consumer Units*
# of uses*
Total packaging weight*
Manufacturing Region*
On-site Packaging Transformation*
OPTION 2: Add product data via bulk upload
If you have data for multiple products ready to share, bulk upload is the fastest way to get everything into SupplierConnect at once. You can upload a file in any spreadsheet format you already have — you are not required to use our template. That said, if you want a reference for which fields are required and what the data should look like, you can download our template at any point during the upload process.
On your Products page, click Bulk Upload, and select the products you want to include in this bulk upload by checking the box next to each product name. You can select all products or just a subset. Then click Bulk Upload again. This step ensures the products you're submitting data for are properly matched in our systems and that emissions calculations are associated correctly for your requesting customer.
In the upload wizard, drag and drop your file into the upload area, or click to browse for it. If you need the template, click Download Excel Template to get a file with all required columns and example rows pre-filled.
The wizard will display a preview of your file and automatically detect the header row. Review the preview to confirm it has selected the correct row. If the header row is wrong, use the selector to choose the correct one. Click Next to continue.
The wizard will attempt to automatically match your file's columns to the fields in SupplierConnect.
Your file's column names appear on the left.
The corresponding SupplierConnect fields appear on the right.
Review each mapping and use the dropdowns to correct any that look wrong.
If you uploaded our template directly, the columns will map automatically with no changes needed. Click Next to continue.
The wizard will validate your data and flag any rows or cells that need attention. This step lets you fix issues before submitting so your data imports cleanly.
You have a few options for fixing errors:
Fix inline: Click directly into any cell and type over the value to correct it.
Fix by error type: Use the right-hand panel, where errors are grouped by type, to work through issues in batches.
Export and fix externally: If you'd prefer to fix errors in your own spreadsheet, click Export file with errors highlighted at the bottom of the screen. You can then correct the file and re-upload.
Want to keep a copy of your cleaned-up data? Use the Export button at the top of the screen to download the corrected version of your file for your records.
Note: You will not be able to proceed to import while there are unresolved errors.
Once all errors are resolved, click Import to submit your data. A confirmation message will appear when your upload is complete. Your submission will be processed and the sharing status for the selected products will be updated. HowGood's Research team will follow up with you via email if anything requires additional attention.
Note: If you navigate away from the wizard mid-upload, you will need to start over. We recommend completing the upload in one session and avoiding browser back gestures or keyboard shortcuts while in the wizard.
OPTION 3: Add product data via LCA or 3rd party upload
Click Submit Emissions Data.
Select all products you would like to submit 3rd party emissions data for. Once selected, click Upload Emissions Data, and then answer all questions in the form. You can attach one LCA to cover multiple related products. This is particularly helpful if your packaging components already have verified footprint data.
HowGood's Research team will reach out to you via email once your data is uploaded and shared with your customer.
Learn more about sustainable packaging design in our webinar with Danone and OPLN on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)