Purition & sustainability: Past, present & future

The future of food is sustainability and, as a business, we’re passionately pro-health and pro-planet. That’s exactly why our aim is to create nutritious products that better your health, but leave no trace on the environment. After all, for Purition to be truly good for you, it needs to be good for the planet too.

From reducing our food miles to scrapping unnecessary plastics, we’ve already made great strides in reducing our environmental impact—but there’s always room to do more. As we grow, we promise to tackle sustainability head-on by making eco-friendly changes wherever possible and actively working towards a carbon negative future.

Carry on reading to find out what we’ve done, what we’re doing now and what we’re striving to do next to become a more sustainable nutrition brand.

Packaging

Past: Our packaging was not widely recycled, but still weighed up at less than 2g plastic per meal and was (and still is!) always made in the UK.

Present: We’re trialling fully-recyclable, 100% FSC approved paper sachets in some 40g flavours as we speak. If you’ve received one, be sure to put it in your paper recycling bin for curbside collection.

Future: Providing the paper packaging trials prove positive, it’s plastic-free packaging all the way! We aim to have all current packaging replaced with paper by Autumn 2021, with an aim to be 100% plastic-free by 2022. If paper packaging does not cut it for our larger (500g) packs, we’ll look to reduce pack size or move to a fully recyclable plastic pouch.

We’re trialling our first ever paper sachets

Delivery

Past: We used a ‘one-size-fits-all’ cardboard box for delivery. This meant that, for smaller orders, we’d have to use cardboard filling to fill out all the empty space. Although cardboard is recyclable, it was still a huge waste of material.

Present: We now have a range of different sized boxes to suit any order—no fillers needed. 100% of our cardboard is made from 100% post-consumer recycled material and can be recycled in the future. For delivery, we use weather-proof plastic bags so that, if necessary, your parcel can be left outside in a safe place without damage. The bags are made from 80% reclaimed material and are 100% recyclable. We also use Carbon Neutral delivery by DPD for over 90% of our deliveries.

Future: DPD is creating a network of all-electric micro-depots so that their all-electric vehicles will be located closer to customers. Shoppers will also get their next-day delivery in a cleaner, quieter and more sustainable way. We’ll continue to cover the cost of green shipping, rather than you having to pay for it at check out.

Scoops

Past: We used to a put plastic scoop in every 500g pack of Purition, but began to wonder how we could reduce unnecessary plastic use as a company.

Present: Back in February 2018, we put those thoughts into action and took the first step to reduce our plastics. We stopped including a scoop in every pouch but kept them available to add to cart if needed. To date, that very easily made decision now equates to a reduction of over 1,637kg of plastic in circulation. We were the first company to champion the use of dessert spoons instead of plastic scoops!

Future: The future is scoop-free! Scoops are no longer available to add to cart—so if you’ve got one, treasure it. If you don’t have any kitchen scales, 4 heaped teaspoons weigh up to around 40g of Purition, while a half cup measure is around 45–50g of Purition.

Food miles & ingredients

Past: We didn’t have the buying power or the demand for large purchasing, so we relied on small traders. These traders had often purchased the material themselves through 3 or 4 sets of hands, which meant several loads of shipping before ingredients and materials reached Purition HQ.

Present: We work closely with suppliers and farmers to understand our supply chains and get as close to the principals of ‘field to fork’ as possible. Around 70-75% of our ingredients come from the European Union (45% of which are from the UK), to ensure the lowest possible food miles. We now work with the UK’s first chia seed farmer and buy all of our chia exclusively from Essex, rather than importing from South America. Read more about the making of Purition.

Future: We’re starting to explore the possibility of working with British suppliers to plant more Purition-specific crops like British hemp seed, right here in the UK, to reduce our food miles even further.