Speciality Food Feb/March 2024

@specialityfood 38 “I think there’s an onus on every brand and business to ensure they have sustainability plans,” says SarahWilliams, marketing director at Cottage Delight. “I think it’s very easy for people to say it’s down to the government or organisations to put in regulations, and sort out environmental issues but, actually, businesses and brands are so integrated in people’s lifestyles now that they have to own their sense of purpose...to take ownership of how they are operating to ensure it’s in a sustainable way.” Like so many others in the artisan sphere, Sarah says Cottage Delight is seeing growing interest from consumers around the environment. It really is impacting buying decisions – especially in food halls and farm shops. “These are the types of consumer who are probably more knowledgeable about food, and want to knowmore about what they’re buying, who produced it and how they produced it. They expect more from artisan brands. Being sustainable is almost an expectation,” This year is Cottage Delight’s 50th anniversary, and as part of the celebrations big sustainable changes are already underway. These have included dramatically altering Cottage Delight’s recognisable packaging, replacing the mop top and elastic band worn by jars for 30 years with a printed lid. “That’s had a significant impact in terms of waste. It’s prevented 4.8 tonnes of rubber bands from going to landfill in a 12-month period,” says Sarah. “Another thing is we’re trying to get rid of shrink wrap in our business when we deliver stock to the trade. Our glass products now arrive in shelf ready boxes. Retailers can just tear the top off and put them out straight away.” Working with a printer, the brand has managed to reduce the virgin plastic in its labels by 30%, with a view to move to a completely recycled label in future. Cottage Delight is also zero waste to landfill, with any waste it does generate sent to be converted to fuel. All the measures put in place are really beginning to stack up. At the end of 2023 Cottage Delight baselined its carbon emissions to give the team a point to progress from. “We are now in the process of working to a plan to reduce our carbon footprint. We’ve set ourselves a target for the coming 12 to 24months, with the aim that 100% of our electricity comes from renewable sources,” says Sarah. Cottage Delight is also sifting through its supplier list. “We’re very conscious as a foodmanufacturer that we’re one of the industries where a lot of ingredients come from a lot of different places. Often ingredients come fromunderdeveloped countries, and that’s big on our radar. We always ensure with our suppliers there’s a modern slavery policy in place. That’s our first step to making sure we’re working with ethical suppliers and is part of a bigger piece of work going into the supply chain to really understand the credibility further down that chain. That really is important to us,” says Sarah. COTTAGE DELIGHT ‘Consumers expect more from artisan brands’ F or Tracklements MD Guy Tullberg (pictured) sustainability factors into almost every decision-making process. “It’s one of the reasons we set out on our B Corp journey three years ago,” says marketing director Becky Vale. “We felt we needed to be tested. We need a standard to aspire to, to be sure we are doing all the right things. That runs quite deep at Tracklements. We really believe that you have to be authentic, and do what you’re saying.” To date, the chutney, relish and preserves brand has put in 10,000sqft of solar panels, generating electricity. The site cleans its own waste water. All its jars are 30% recycled glass, with recyclable paper labels and recyclable ink. Tracklements is zero to landfill, with 50% of waste recycled and the other 50% repurposed or incinerated and turned into electricity. “And we have a plan to improve on that,” Becky explains. “So that we’re much more recycled and less repurposed. It’s a journey we’re all on together, and it’s about learning and improving as we go.” One of the brand’s most important views on sustainability, says Becky, extends to farmers and growers. “As a business, we can be really sustainable,” she explains. “But if we don’t have a sustainable source of, say, freshly grown British horseradish, or if we don’t keep paying the person who pulls vegetables out of the ground a fair price, we lose that great quality. We have a very clear strategy in that we are very honest with everyone. We source locally first, then regionally, then nationally and internationally. But it’s always the best. “We see it as a self-supporting cycle. If we don’t support the environment, and growers and people, what will we have in the end? We always used to talk about Fairtrade, but it’s this idea that you need to protect your supply chain, so their business is also sustainable, whichmakes your business sustainable, which is good for the end consumer.” A product that couldn’t be more local if it tried is Tracklements’ English Crabapple Jelly. School children near the HQ pick up TRACKLEMENTS ‘Artisan manufacturing needs to be protected and sustained’ windfalls and pass them on to the preserve maker in return for money. Then 25p from the sale of each jar goes back into the school. The fruits are all picked within a five- mile radius of Tracklements. “It’s a wonderful way to be part of the community, trying to teach the next generation where food comes from and how an artisanmanufacturer turns it into something delicious,” says Becky, adding, “One of the other things Tracklements is trying to do is create this idea that artisan manufacturing needs to be protected and sustained. We need keep teaching people how to make things, and to make them really well.” Being sustainable “just makes good business sense” according to Becky. “It’s moving up the agenda for a lot of producers and it should go without saying that any artisan business should be sustainable. I was listening to someone recently who said ‘if you’re not sustainable, you won’t be around, it’s the future’.” THREE QUARTERS OF GENERATION Z CONSUMERS CLAIMED TO PURCHASE SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND BEVERAGES IN 2023, 72% OF THEM WERE MILLENNIALS STATISTA GLOBAL CONSUMER SURVEY