WHY DO WE CAN?
CARBON NEGATIVE
FARM SITE
It all starts with our site. We hand make in small batches using quality ingredients like you would at home. We have our own wind turbine which provides much more energy than we need, so we proudly export energy back to the grid. We're in the process of adding solar panels to the site too to further improve our efficiency. P.S. Yes this is our actual turbine P.P.S. It is rarely this sunny.
HUGE REDUCTION IN
WASTE
We put our meals into cans in single portion size primarily so that they aren't wasted. A third of all food produced in a year is wasted - in fact if food waste were a country it would be the world's third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. We could save 1 billion litres of food a year globally if we canned rather than refrigerated or froze as the process gives a really long shelf life without additives or preservatives.
RECYCLABILITY OF
METAL
Cans can be recyled over and over again without losing any quality (a closed loop system). Consumers have a really good understanding of metal's recyclability and so it is the most recycled material in both Europe and the US. Every UK council recycles metal curb-side and is easily separated from other materials with magnets. For these reasons, it is estimated that up to 80% of all metal ever produced is still in use today.
ZERO ENERGY USED IN
STORAGE
Refrigeration and freezing can absolutely aid in the fight against food waste. A huge amount of energy however is used by fridges and freezers across the whole supply chain - at the manufacturers, in the shops and in your home. Supermarket fridges alone make up 1% of all electricity used in the UK. Food also needs to be chilled in specialist vehicles when moving between places and this is often done with a secondary diesel engine. In fact, these refrigeration systems have greater emissions than the vehicles main engine.
UNDERSTANDING
OUR PROGRESS
In early 2022 we worked with some lovely folks at London South Bank University to try to get a grasp of the benefits of canning ready meals on our farm versus more typical refrigerated and frozen products. We found that a refrigerated or frozen meal had a 270% bigger carbon footprint than our canned meal. This study didn't actually account for the difference in food wasted which we would expect to be the most significant factor of all.
CONTINUING
OUR JOURNEY
We are still far from even understanding every single bit of our impact as a business and believe it's always going to be a journey rather than a destination. We're trying to improve the efficiency of the turbine, add solar panels and get to grips with our supply chain whilst also continuing to develop more delicious, nutritious and convenient meals.