Sustainability
Growing
- Our Damson are not sprayed.
- Our orchardist does however spray weeds that sprout around the base of the trees.
- Our trees are rigorously pruned annually and the cuttings are used to grow more trees.
- Irrigation water comes from the orchards bore.
Food Waste
- At harvest, waste product is returned to the soil beneath the trees to decompose
- In the kitchen, all plum waste from frozen whole plums post cooking goes to a local pig farmer to be used as stock food
Ingredients
- Purchasing, is done as seldom as possible; we do this to reduce the product packaging involved in each order (packaging to ingredient ratio)
- Packaging (boxes, bubble wrap, brown paper etc) is reused, where possible, and recycled otherwise (this is why you may see our suppliers branding on some of our wholesale orders - often Arthur Holmes or Gilmours)
Cardboard Shippers
All of our cardboard shippers are:- FSC certified
- Made from 100% recycled content
- A high enough standard to re-use or repurpose (we actively encourage retailers and online customers to do this)
Product Packing & Labels
Glass is one of the most environmentally friendly materials used in food packaging. The manufacturing process is often closed loop, meaning the end-of-life material can be used to remake the exact same product - in this case, another glass container. This process can be repeated over and over again, therefore, glass is referred to as, infinitely recyclable.
- All of our glass is recyclable
- Food jars and bottles are made by Arthur Homes
- Liqueur bottles are made by Saver Glass in France
Energy Use
- We turn off all power when we leave our warehouse (most companies leave printers, computers and a light or two on overnight).
- We use low energy consumption bulbs.
- We monitor power use very closely.
- We have invested in low energy consumptions electronics (computers, printers, fridges and more)
Transportation
- We have chosen to centralise our distribution in Auckland in order to respond more economically to our biggest market.
- We send our products out in the smallest practical box (usually about .007m3 or smaller), even though our contract with NZ Post allows up to .03m3 - this saves space on the truck and allows the same truck to take more product with each trip thus reducing our overall carbon footprint.
People
- All of our employees (contract or otherwise) are paid well above the Living Wage.
- We are a certified Living Wage Employer.