SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
FY24
Photo Credit: Wildfarmed
At Wellocks we depend upon the natural world, which is why we take our commitment to protecting it seriously. Our mission extends to consider the future of the food system and we are committed to continuous improvement to ensure we reduce our impact on our environment.
We pride ourselves on our transparency, creating highquality jobs, supporting and celebrating our workforce. We’re always on the lookout for ways to help the environment and our community. Working directly with our network of growers and producers around the world, we support traditional, organic, and sustainable farming methods and approaches wherever we can.
We promote variety and diversity, in particular the rediscovery and protection of Heritage fruits and vegetables. Sourcing from the UK first is our priority; our milk is British, and all our eggs are sourced from the UK. Our online ordering system is designed for simplicity and accuracy to cut down on second deliveries and further reduce our carbon footprint. We also deliver to customers in returnable green plastic crates, which are tracked to stop waylaid crates from ending up in landfill and are stackable, which reduces the risk of damage to products.
Having set a clear plan for the year ahead, we are dedicated to the continual improvements that will help drive us towards our sustainability commitments and objectives. We will remain transparent and with our communication and look forward to sharing our journey towards a more sustainable future with you along the way.
Jill Martin Managing Director
WHAT ARE WE MOST EXCITED FOR THIS YEAR?
Having welcomed our Sustainability Coordinator Nieves to the team, we will be dedicating more resource to focus on our business sustainability goals and developing a robust roadmap.
Continue to support our local communities and charity partners with colleague volunteering opportunities throughout the year, aiming to exceed our target.
Solar panels will be fitted to our main warehouse in Nelson.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY SO FAR
We know we are at the beginning of our sustainability journey and have set ourselves big long term targets, however we believe that to get there we need to be open and honest and celebrate small progress all the way along our supply chain. We report monthly on 7 key sustainability hero areas and this report aims to discuss our progress so far.
OUR 7 SUSTAINABILITY
EMISSIONS
FOOD
SUSTAINABILITY HERO AREAS FOOD WASTE
PLASTICS & PACKAGING
TRACEABILITY
LABELLING
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
FAIR REMUNERATION
EMISSIONS
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
CSR is important as it takes into account wider issues rather than just those which affect the bottom line. It considers the environmental, social and ethical impact of operations. Wellocks are committed to invest in initiatives to have a positive impact where we can.
We have worked with Verco, an award winning energy management and sustainability team, to calculate our indirect and direct emissions for 2021-22 as well as the emissions from our supply chain, and we will be doing this again in FY25.
Our Net-Zero Commitment
Aligned with the SBTI commitment consistent with the Paris agreement:
• We pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
• We will conduct regular assessments of our carbon footprint and implement measures to reduce emissions
Short-Term Reduction Targets
By 2030 we are committed to:
• Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42%
• Reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 25%
• Implement energy-efficient practices and technologies across our operations
OUR FY22 CARBON FOOTPRINT SCOPE 1 3615 tC02e Direct emissions from sources that we either own or control, like the fuel our vans use. SCOPE 2 259 tC02e Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy - like electricity. SCOPE 3 76,603 tC02e Indirect emissions that occur anywhere in our value chain, including packaging, water, waste, uniforms, commuting and freight.
EMISSIONS
FY22 Carbon Footprint data is subject to change as Virco work to audit our scope 3.
Photo Credit: Wildfarmed
FOOD WASTE
We are committed to WRAP’s Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, reducing food waste by 50% per tonne of product sold, against our FY21 baseline, by 2030.
• We have currently achieved 1.1% food waste of food handled in FY24 which equates to a 31% reduction from our baseline
• We will continue to fight food waste, following a food waste hierarchy which is embedded across the business from working with our supply chain, to efficient stock management, implementing more efficient operational processes and creating a food waste aware culture through internal education
• We prioritise food waste prevention through careful inventory management and production planning to minimise overproduction and spoilage
We have partnered up with The Bread and Butter Thing to redirect our food surplus, helping to tackle food poverty across the UK and in the North West. We also donate food surplus to local initiatives and food banks, such as Blackburn Youth Zone.
PLASTICS
We are aligned with the UK plastics pact. We currently deliver to you in our recyclable green crates, these are tracked and collected reducing the amount of plastic in our supply chain. Our team are working hard to make changes, since 2022 we have removed 63.3 tonnes of plastic packaging through a collection of initiative’s including changing our milk bottles to Tetrapak cartons.
We recognise there is a requirement for plastic packaging and where possible we aim to review this to ensure it has a high recycled content, where it is safe to do so or an alternative to limit our environmental impact.
In the last 12 months we have donated 16.01 Tonnes of food to charity, which has saved around 38.9 tonnes of CO2 going into the atmosphere.
Wellocks acknowledges the importance of environmental sustainability and is concerned about its “Food Print”. Thus, we are committed to creating a food waste-conscious environment within our operations and this year we will be rolling out food waste training across our operational team to expand their knowledge. When food is no longer fit for human consumption it goes to a pig farm just a couple of miles up the road. As part of our waste hierarchy we ensure we prioritise people before animals and we hope to continue to find options to further tackle food poverty through donations.
We are zero waste to Landfill and have been since 2022 and this is something we are proud of.
If products are not fit for human or animal consumption they are recycled through a contract with an Anearobic Digestor converting waste into renewable energy which goes back to the National Grid.
We aim to commit to:
• Achieve 30% average recycled content across all our plastic packaging
• 70% of our plastic packaging waste to be effectively recycled
• Eliminate any problematic or unnecessary singleuse packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (reuse) delivery model
ENVIRONMENT
Without the natural environment, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the variety of produce we do and therefore we must protect it. Wellocks are committed to care for the environment, we complete yearly internal environmental audits to not only ensure we are legally compliant but to also ensure we are actively protecting the environment where possible. This includes, waste, water, electricity, gas, nuisance and packaging. We also complete the ESOS audit every four years to ensure we are reducing our energy requirements and thus our impact.
RESPONSIBLE PROCUREMENT
We collaborate with suppliers to promote sustainable practices and reduce environmental impact. We aim to prioritise suppliers that adhere to ethical and sustainable sourcing principles and suppliers of products containing palm oil must adhere to company policy to align with our requirements of sustainable and ethical sourcing. Our long-term goal is to build a framework to support buyers to select produce from suppliers where farming is done sensitively to nature, soil and water with reduced reliance on synthetic fertiliser and other plant protection products.
ON-SITE WATER USAGE
We are aligned with WRAP, which means we are committed to monitoring water use in our operations and improving efficiency. To achieve this, we will complete internal water audits to improve our understanding of our water usage and risks within our on-site manufacturing and operations.
We aim to prioritise water conservation efforts by implementing efficient water management practices throughout our facilities, including the use of water-saving technologies, monitoring and reducing water consumption, and promoting responsible water use among employees, further to this we invest in wastewater treatment systems and other sustainable infrastructure to minimise water pollution and protect local ecosystems.
WATER USAGE IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN
We aim to identify key water risk hotspots in our supply chain through using risk mapping tools. Collaborating with our suppliers to maintain best practice and continually work towards better water governance. Through Courtauld 2030, we are committed to supporting a Collective Action water project in a catchment area subject to water stress, to strengthen resilience in an area within our supply chain.
WATER
TRACEABILITY
Where possible we aim to source directly from the producer, taking produce fresh from the field straight to the kitchen. Traceability is important from both a food safety and ethical perspective. We need to know that the ingredients we use are safe and they are produced in a way that is mindful to both people and the environment.
We are working to increase the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX) membership of our suppliers, a data-driven initiative to ensure we are actively able to manage ethical risks within the supply chain. Our target for FY25 is for 50% of our suppliers (top 80% of spend) to meet the SEDEX requirements, which means we can follow up non-flagged compliances and undertake qualitative work with our smaller suppliers. We have also begun the implementation of Authenticate, a supplier management and traceability platform, which will help us reach our goal of 99% traceability of ingredients and products of which we have direct control back to origin by 2030.
LABELLING
Now more than ever it is important to communicate with our customers the sustainability status of our products. In FY25, we will launch an innovative method to explain more about the products customers wish to purchase, aiming to support the decision making process and advance environmentally and ethically produced products.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
VOLUNTEERING
As part of the William Jackson Food Group we give each colleague a paid day during the year to complete a day volunteering either for one of our Charity partners or with a cause close to their heart. This is a really great way to make a difference in our local communities. In the last year we have completed 70 days volunteering and we will continue to strive to make a difference.
CHARITIES
OUR PARTNERS
We are proud to support our industry by partnering with several charities and chef competitions throughout the year. Thanks to the close relationships we have developed with our partners over the years, we are in a unique position to empower chefs who aspire to push the boundaries of gastronomy; from those entering the industry at school or collage, to the most prestigious competitions in the country.
We are passionate that our operations should have a positive impact on the communities we operate in. In the last year, we have donated £16.500 to local charities.
Our main charity partner is Blackburn Youth Zone, alongside donations to help the charity we also help to run workshops for the young people throughout the year, offering education in cooking and produce.
Springboard’s Future Chef is a school-based programme that supports the development of key life skills, whilst inspiring young people to pursue an exciting career within the world of hospitality. They support students to build industry-based culinary skills, as well as connecting teachers and students with industry professionals. The Future Chef competition is now the biggest school culinary competition in the UK. A representative from our business is on the judging panel and we provide ingredients for the awards dinner.
Since it was established in 1983, the Roux Scholarship has enabled a new generation of chefs from Britain to train in the greatest restaurants in the world. Not only has it become the industry’s most acclaimed chef competition in the UK, with many scholars having gone on to win Michelin stars themselves, it also ranks among the most prestigious competitions for chefs in the world. We provide ingredient for the competition and an exclusive prize for the winner.
OUR PEOPLE
Our aim is to offer the people in our communities employment with meaningful careers, fair pay, and benefits that support our colleagues’ needs. At Wellocks we are committed to supporting our employees any way we can.
We believe it is important to support the career development and progression of our colleagues and provide access to a range of opportunities to underpin this; including relevant qualifications, courses and on-the-job experiences. We have many colleagues that have moved into new job roles or secured a promotion on their career journey at Wellocks. All colleagues have the necessary skills and job-related training to underpin their role and we continually aim to improve our offering.
Through the William Jackson Food Group, we have an Employee Benefits Portal providing discounts at a wide variety of retailers, access to a free online GP for our colleagues and their families, salary finance, a wellbeing centre, and an employee assistance programme. We also have WJFG Awards and Scholarships, these include sports awards, which can be used to buy equipment for a colleagues’ sports team, and financial support for colleagues’ children when they go to university.
The company regularly promotes Diversity and Inclusion through various awareness days, such as LGBT History Month and World Religion Day. We also interact frequently with the wider WJFG ED&I Forum to ensure alignment with activities and direction. All colleagues complete Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training and we underpin this with Dignity at Work awareness.
The health and safety of our employees is our priority, with a safe and healthy work environment, free from health hazards, and discrimination. We implement robust health and safety policies, procedures, and training programs to prevent accidents, injuries, and occupational illnesses, and to promote employee well-being and resilience. Independent audits are conducted regularly, with continued monitoring of leading and lagging indicators to improve performance and minimise risk.
WHAT’S NEXT?
We are going to tell you about our commitments & how we aim to improve.
Hit the target of food waste 3% diverted to humans.
We’re keen to invest in electric vehicles, but they do not currently meet the mileage we require. Therefore, we will look at alternative areas to see how we can minimise our impact.
Meausure our suppliers commitment to sustainability.
Second year of data for our Scope 3 emmissions to road map the carbon reductions in our supply chain.
Solar panels fitted FY25.
Labelling initiative to help customers make more informed decisions about sustainability.
Share the sustainability stories of our producers and
We want to understand customer sustainability prorities to make a meaningful difference in your kitchens.
75% of our products mapped back to tier 1 through our traceability platform.
Expand our impact through 86 volunteering days this year.
Upskill our workforce with climate action and fighting food waste workshops. Continue to support Local charities such as Blackburn Youth Zone with monetary donations and initiatives to provide support to their young people.
Wellocks 4 Pendleside Lomeshaye Business Village Lancashire, BB9 6SH
: 08444 993 444
: sales@wellocks.co.uk Website:
Phone
Email
www.wellocks.co.uk