COMPANY PROFILE
Jam and condiment maker, Tiptree, is a lesson in balancing tradition and innovation, where homegrown values, recipes, and heritage blend seamlessly together with an embracement of new technology and meeting the changing needs of both the environment and the community.
A FRUITY FORAY
INTO SUSTAINABILITYDRIVEN LICENSING ABOVE: In 2022, Tiptree planted 166 oak trees and 3km of hedgerow for The Queen’s Green Canopy project.
BELOW RIGHT: Fruit crops on the Tiptree farm include strawberries, raspberries, mulberries, Morello cherries, rhubarb, damson, Victoria plum, greengage, quince, and the curious medlar.
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roducts of Change recently caught up with Tiptree’s Liz Baker and Ian Clark, with the news that Tiptree is beginning its foray into the world of brand licensing. They also shared the sustainability efforts the brand is undertaking, and has been undertaking, since its founding in 1885, and how this is shaping its approach to licensing. The Wilkin family began farming in Tiptree, Essex, UK, in 1757, and started its preserves and jam making business in 1885. Tiptree grows a wide range of traditional English fruits for its ever-expanding range of conserves, condiments, and, most recently, liqueurs. While for many businesses, sustainability may be something of a modern concept, for Tiptree it has been woven into its heritage and identity in some shape or form from the beginning. Its family-run, employee owned, and conscientious culture has lent itself to looking after people and planet for 140 years. Denoting its heritage, values, and keenness for quality, Tiptree was granted its first Royal Warrant in 1911 by George V, an accolade that has continued since and been recently renewed by King Charles III. “Sustainability has been a huge
part of the application for the Royal warrants for a long time, but even more so now with the King,” Liz said, referencing King Charles’ longstanding commitment to environmentalism. CONSERVING GENERATIONS OF JAM Its Royal Warrant is one of the many reasons sustainability is at the heart of Tiptree, but its history and heritage is another. “We’ve been making jam for 140 years, and we hope to be making jam for another 140. We look a long way back, but we also look a long way forward; we always say that we like to leave the business in a better place for the next generations,” said Liz, and to do so the land on which Tiptree farms must be looked after and sustained, and the community of Tiptree in which the farm is located must be cared for, along with the generations of workers it employs. A LEAF Marque (Linking Environment and Farming) accredited farm, Tiptree prioritises
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