Tips on How To Create A More Environmentally Friendly Bakery and Why It's Important
As we all know, climate change and what we can do about it has become a significantly more important topic over the last decade or two, with public understanding and awareness at an all-time high. If you are the owner of an artisan bakery that wants to engage with your customers and share their core values then it is essential that you embrace the move to sustainable values. And by demonstrating your environmental credentials you may be able to increase business whilst reducing your carbon footprint.
At Nelstrops we want to play our part and have implemented many new policies to show this commitment. However, we always want to do more and with the vast majority of our customers being artisan bakeries, we wanted to write this article to help maximise our contribution and work with you, our customers, on what can be done.
Use Eco-Friendly Packaging
Whether your business is takeaway only or has its own cafe, the packaging that you use for your products can contribute significantly.
There are many packaging options now available, which while not any more expensive can dramatically reduce your business's carbon footprint.
Using the least amount of packaging is the first step. And then understanding the recycled content of your packaging, the sustainability of its source, and then exactly how a consumer can recycle the packaging in a domestic setting. We all see far too many so called ‘recyclable’ packs with coatings which make them actually anything but. The detail matters.
Baking paper
It's not just the use of plastics in the wrapping of your delicious food products that you need to think carefully about. When you sit down and think about it, baking particularly at scale can entail you using numerous plastic items once before discarding them. Two of the most common items which many people don't think about are gloves and probably the biggest culprit in our industry, baking paper. Although you may not use a large amount of baking paper on any specific day, think about the cumulative effect of the sheer volume of baking paper you use in a month. By choosing reusable products or items which are biodegradable the quality of your produce can remain the same without the long-term damage to the environment that baking at scale can cause.
Focus On Reducing The Volume of Waste Created
Another way to help reduce your carbon footprint is to cut back on the amount of waste your artisan bakery produces. Good stock control, smaller portions, and even partnering with a local homeless charity where you can donate leftover food. This not only means that less waste will be created but could also help people who may be struggling to find their next meal.
Focus on Reducing The Amount of Water
You Use Water is a precious resource and yet bakers alone waste millions of litres every year. Leaving the tap running when cleaning after a hard day's baking, and using too much water on your expensive equipment can lead to long-term damage, as well as big bills.
The Big One - Transportation
Whatever or however we want to think about the environmental impact of our business transport is and always will be a huge factor. Whether it is getting the ingredients to your bakery to make the produce, or getting the produce to our customers.
The first thing is be creative in your ordering process. Try to order as many of your ingredients at the same time to minimise road miles.
Secondly, investigate where your suppliers are growing or obtaining their ingredients. Virtually all of Nelstrops flour is made using UK wheat, which in turn means that our flour is minimising the distance it travels from farm to you.
Finally, if you offer delivery for your products, then think about electric vehicles or even push bikes if your delivery addresses are only local.
Consider Your Use of Fossil Fuels
The final option is to try and reduce your reliance on fossil fuels in the baking process. Admittedly this one is much more challenging, but if you don't expect to move location in the long term, then investing in solar panels for example could be a good move (like we have done) whilst at the same time making your business more sustainable.
Many of the above suggestions just require a change in thought processes and a little effort but they are certainly worth the effort for all our futures.
When you buy Nelstrops flour not only are you investing in the finest ingredients, which of course in conjunction with your skills as a baker will turn into delicious food products, but you are also choosing a supply partner that cares about the environment and has done everything they can to reduce their environmental impact.
If you are committed to growing your business whilst helping the planet talk to the friendly customer service team at Nelstrops Flours.