Cotswold Fayre released its second annual Impact report yesterday. Despite the precarity that swept across the world over the last year, the company is reported to have performed well while simultaneously undertaking a B Corp evaluation.
Cotswold Fayre’s chief executive, Paul Hargreaves, said: “The B Corp reassessment is a rigorous process to prove that we are doing what we say we do, but the absolute highlight of my year was receiving back our new B Corp score, a remarkable 107.8 (it was 84 on the two previous assessments).
“There are now more than 500 B Corps in the UK and this score puts us near the top for FMCG companies. We are incredibly proud to work with 24 B Corp suppliers, with more soon to be certified, and of course we’d love this figure to be even higher.”
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Since their last Impact report, Cotswold Fayre has employed a new team to manage the company’s overall impact on the environment.
Suppliers can receive support from the company’s sustainability manager via conferences and webinars, as well as assistance in improving packaging and reducing plastic use. In addition, the sustainability manager assists other businesses with their B Corp assessments.
Hargreaves added “It has been a really busy year for us, but with a new B Corp score, we’re not about to sit back on our laurels – and we already have big plans for the year ahead, and beyond.
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“This year we introduced 1,340 new products to our portfolio and welcomed 90 new suppliers and 584 new customers to the Cotswold Fayre family!
“We also launched our packaging-free refill unit, UnpackagedAT, and expect to see many more retailers adopt this over the coming year to help reduce plastic and other packaging in the supply chain.”
Additionally, the company opened their new retail and restaurant site Flourish Foodhall & Kitchen at the end of last month.
Cotswold Fayre reduced its carbon impact last year and offset 1,578 tonnes of CO2.
The business has decided to invest in more infrastructure to supply to a larger area with more frequency after chilled distribution grew at an exponential rate.
