6 minute read
Cheers to sustainable packaging and gifting made simple
It’s easy to spot a great gift and packaging wholesale supplier. It’s often the company everyone is openly talking about. We’re talking style and substance though. In these times of sustainability and circular economy, it’s not enough to have recycling mantras or know your scope 2 from your scope 3 emissions, green thinking needs to be the modus operandi and centrepiece.
You might think you know WBC: One of the UK’s leading wholesale distribution companies, specialising in gift packaging, retail display and customised printed bags to the food and drink sector.
But think again.
WBC could be described as leading purveyors of eco-friendly, practical, elegant packaging. Imagine if Danish hygge was packaging, merged with rustic simplicity. From drinks packaging, protective packaging, gift packaging, shred & wrap, barware, retail displays & supplies, retail furniture, fabric bags, printed fabric bags, to bespoke orders, WBC has it all and with its intrinsic focus on green-thinking best practice, it is the focus of Food & Drink Matter’s sustainability and packaging feature.
Let’s go back to the beginning for a moment. The backstory for WBC is humble and shows great tenacity from founders Tim Wilkinson and Andrew Wilson. Thirty years ago, Tim and Andrew were interested in starting a business in wine packaging.
After approaching several banks, they kept getting knockbacks until finally The Prince’s Youth Business Trust (now known as the Prince’s Trust) said ‘yes’ and awarded a £5,000 business loan. The rest as they say, is history.
Today, WBC has grown exponentially to become one of the UK’s leading wholesale supplier of quality packaging, display solutions & fabric bags, specifically designed with the ‘Food & Drink’ market in mind: wine merchants, specialist delicatessens, small batch breweries, fine distilleries, artisan bakers, luxury gifting companies, vineyards, cafes, farm shops, contract caterers and many more.
With over 1,600 products on offer, which are held in stock and are available on a next day delivery, WBC has a loyal customer base from independent cottage industries to global high-profile names like Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. For those businesses that wish to customise their product, WBC offers a printing service, allowing businesses to add their name, message or any design they wish. For emerging and more established companies focused on branding, WBC offers a customised packaging service, supported by account makers and in-house design team.
We caught up with WBC’s Commercial Director Eve Reid to find out what makes the company tick, “Today we employ nearly fifty staff (depending on the time of the year) which includes twelve different nationalities: collectively totalling eight separate languages spoken. We pride ourselves on our inclusive, diverse work culture: 42% of our workforce is female and we naturally attract younger, dynamic employees. 75% of us have been with the company for more than five years, which speaks volumes but we’re not resting on our laurels.”
“The ability to safely deliver products to customers is essential to pretty much any business nowadays. Poorly packaged products leads to breakages, cost and most importantly reputation. With WBC’s packaging solutions to suit every budget and protection level, it’s our priority to help you send your products with confidence.”
Naturally as a packaging and display supplier, WBC has been ahead of the curve and pledged over ten years ago to be carbon-neutral by 2030. With hard work and strategic planning, WBC is delighted to announce that following a recent external audit, they are very close to being a Carbon Neutral company, six years earlier than planned.
“We are constantly looking for ways to ‘sustainably optimise’ our products, buying responsibly and making sure that our products and services are as sustainable as possible, with the lowest environmental impact and most positive social results.”
“Our Pulpsafe transit boxes are a great example of this. Made from off-cuts and waste from cardboard production and some excess newsprint, pulpsafe packaging is recyclable, compostable and presents the ideal biodegradable bottle packaging solution. We also have DPD’s thumbs-up validating it as offering the highest levels of protection for shipping bottles.”
“Some of our counter top & furniture pieces are made from Mango wood: a great material, highly sustainable due to its cultivation as a fruit tree, Mango wood prevents waste and makes beautiful, yet durable products,” explained Eve.
Other notable eco-friendly alternatives to plastic products include:
Honeycomb Bottle Sleeves & Wrap: 100% recyclable, biodegradable and food safe.
Can Ring Holders made from Pulp: Made from sustainable sugarcane pulp: 100% recyclable and 100% compostable.
Paper Pull Bows & Wide Paper Ribbon: Made entirely from paper: a great alternative to plastic gifting. Even the packaging is biodegradable.
WBC are committed to being carbon neutral, and have nearly achieved this through several initiatives including committing to its own Forestry Project. For every order placed over £150, WBC plants a single tree. Over the last four years, this has amounted to 33,000 Maritime Pine trees, over 61 acres of land in the Bordeaux region of France.
For WBC, sustainability goes hand in hand with taking care of the environment, staff, suppliers and customers. Since 2002, WBC has been a big player in fabric bags and has always been looking for innovative ways to work more sustainably in this sector. One great example of this is the handmade fabric bag range approved by SEDEX partners in India. The bags are made using a range of natural fibres and are ethically produced to the highest standards. One stand-out project is a social business venture (Cocobagh) in West Bengal working with marginalised, local widows. Through training, these women gain access to valuable employment opportunities, which provides the chance to send their children to school. These widows would otherwise be culturally ostracised and not receive opportunities to work and provide for their families.
“Looking to the future, we have just set up distribution centre in Ireland so that we can re-establish our old routes and serve Ireland as we did pre-Brexit. We have some new furniture pieces available for sale soon, designed for the hospitality market. Once we achieve carbon-neutral status, we will manoeuvre to become climate-positive in the years to come,” concluded Eve.
WBC will be at the following 2024 food & drink events:Farm Shop & Deli Expo: 29th April-1st May 2024: NEC, Birmingham, Stand G190Specialty & Fine Food Fair: 10th-11th September 2024, Olympia, London, Stand 1201
