Bristol based organic and ethical retailer Better Food has published its first Impact Report.
The multiple award-winning retailer says that working on the new report enabled the business to “step back and consider all of our impacts – both positive and negative – holistically”.
Sustainability was the driving force that brought Better Food into the world three decades ago, as founder Phil Haughton explains: “From the start of this journey, all my passion and energy has been put into inspiring our teams to make positive impact. For me, the most fundamental impact we can make as a business is to increase the amount of land being farmed organically, and make the fruits of this available to as many communities as possible. We’ve come a long way on this journey, and done our bit in driving change towards a world where the words ‘organic’, ‘local’ and ‘ethical’ really are top of the food agenda. This report very honestly lays out where we are at this point, but we know the world never stands still, and we have lots to do to measure and improve our impact going forward.”
“This report very honestly lays out where we are at this point, but we know the world never stands still, and we have lots to do to measure and improve our impact going forward”
The 24-page report details how Better Food applies its mission principles – ‘Organic. Local. Ethical’ – across the whole business. For example, ‘putting organic first’ includes supporting 20 local organic growers, while its cafés use produce from 14 local organic certified producers. Being ‘vocal about local’ is evidenced by data showing that 100 of its suppliers have a Bristol post code and that 25% of products sold in its stores are sourced from suppliers within 5 miles of the city.
The report also details Better Foods’ work in areas such as packaging, food waste, product sourcing, supply chains and in its own workplace – welcoming diversity, actively working towards eliminating gender pay gaps and being a Living Wage Employer.
Haughton adds: “I am so proud of those that worked to get this report out, and of how the whole Better Food team is behind making an ever more positive impact.”