Passages International founded by Darren Crouch has paved an unexpected environmentally-conscious path in the change-averse funeral industry. The company began almost 20 years ago, in 1999, before the term “Global Warming” was popularized and before concerns of climate change sparked a national movement. The Green Movement catalyzed in 2007 after “Step It Up,” the largest grassroots environmental demonstration in recent history in which 1,400 communities and all 50 states protested for real global warming solutions. Passages was 10 years ahead of an international green movement presenting memorial products with minimal environmental impact at affordable prices. Passages traversed an unexpected path to arrive at the where they are today – the industry leader in environmentally conscious funeral merchandise. Finding Inspiration in The Black BoxCrouch was working in the luxury hotel industry in California and looking for a career change when he recognized an opportunity in the cremation merchandise space. His wife’s family was in the funeral business and his brother-in-law shared that he was starting to see a change in the values of his consumers.
One particular experience that resonated with Crouch was the temporary cremation container commonly referred to as the “black box.” The “black box” is an instantly recognizable container in the funeral space that has grown to become a bitter icon of the challenges that cremation has presented for the industry. Crouch’s conversations with his brother-in-law launched him on a mission to improve cremation containers for customers worldwide.
Crouch set out to design a better solution. His goal was to introduce a temporary cremation container that was…actually temporary. He wanted his product to be dignified, yet affordable for families; something that they would see value in, but would also be profitable for the funeral home. It was crucial that the product was impermanent and facilitated the popular ritual of scattering ashes.
Birth of the Earthurn®Earthurn® became the design that would fill a gap in the funeral-customer experience while increasing revenue for funeral homes. Crouch launched his unprecedented impermanent cremation containers with a national ad campaign in funeral trade publications, by writing articles, and by exhibiting at conventions. Crouch’s very first exhibition was NFDA in Kansas City in October of 1999 where he realized there was nothing like Earthurn® available. As soon as Crouch introduced the original four Earthurn® designs he realized that funeral directors started to market them as biodegradable urns. He observed how his funeral home partners were talking about them and connected the language to an emerging national trend that would shape his brand.
Passages International TodayToday, Passages International has an extensive product line which includes a variety of materials and styles of biodegradable urns like salt, sand, and gourds as well as environmentally-friendly wicker caskets. Their products are offered in tens of thousands of funeral homes around the globe and in 2017 alone they sold nearly 100,000 eco-friendly products – They are on track to pass that sales volume for 2018. Passages has ridden the green wave of environmental consciousness for twenty years and it hasn’t even crested yet…
Passages has just completed a massive expansion of their production and distribution facility in Albuquerque, NM (from 9,000 sq. ft. to almost 30,000 sq. ft.) and increased staff to position the company for exponential growth in the coming years. When asked what he sees for the future of Passages International and green funeral practices Crouch said,
You can see all of Passages International’s Products online or find Darren Crouch and his team at NFDA 2018 in Salt Lake City. The post Learn How Passages International Paved an Unexpected Green Path in Funeral Care appeared first on Connecting Directors. Learn How Passages International Paved an Unexpected Green Path in Funeral Care published first on YouTube via Tumblr Learn How Passages International Paved an Unexpected Green Path in Funeral Care
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