Putting the Pride into our Sustainability Efforts: How We Are Working Towards a Greener Planet, and How You Can Too!
At Friars Pride, we are passionate about safeguarding the future of our planet and all living creatures in it, which starts with the food products we sell. As part of our mission to combat environmental change, we are committed to using sustainably sourced products, investing in environmental positive changes within our business, and being involved in sustainable initiatives.
Read on to find out about how we are putting the Pride into our sustainability efforts.
Palm Oil at Friars Pride
At Friars Pride, we only sell sustainable palm oil.
But we also do more than just sell it. We are a part of the Sustainable Palm Oil Community and a Champion of the Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community.
Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community
Being part of the Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community means that we use certified sustainable palm oil, therefore reducing deforestation and protecting biodiversity. It is a community designed to encourage all businesses that are in the food industry to ensure they are using certified sustainable palm oil.
Find out more about the Dorset Sustainable Palm Oil Community here.
Our Work in Sustainable Palm Oil
Our work in the local communities promotes the use of sustainable palm oil and educates others on its use and procurement.
In addition to our work in the community, we also sell RSPO Certified Palm Oil, such as FriWite. Being RSPO Certified means that the product complies with RSPO’s sustainability requirements and is actively working towards protecting the planet.
FriWite Sustainability Initiatives
FriWite is not just a product we sell; it is a product that is investing back into our world. In 2022 and 2023, we ran a tree planting scheme in collaboration with FriWite, where every box of FriWite purchased contributes towards tree planting. Our initiative meant that we planted over 14,000 trees in support of sustainable palm oil! That equates to over 100 football pitches worth of trees being planted, and over 2 million tons of C02 extracted from the atmosphere!
Sustainable Palm Oil Means Full Traceability
However, labeling products like FriWite as sustainable involves more than just putting a label on a product. It means that sustainable practices are being followed in the mills where the palm oil is produced. These can be ethical working conditions, supporting the communities that work there by building schools and hospitals and limiting their impact on the local environment.
With RSPO eTrace, we can make sure that the products we claim are RSPO certified, are what we say they are. RSPO eTrace means that we can trace our RSPO products back to the mills it is produced in. In doing so, we can certify that the palm oil we sell is in fact, sustainable.
Traceability means accountability. We take our role in supporting sustainable palm oil practices seriously, and that starts from the supply chain we source it from.
We Supply MSC Fish
Fish is at the center of the industry we supply, which is why we make sure that the fish we sell is sustainably sourced.
We supply a range of MSC Fish from companies such as Rammi, Leinebris, Gadus, and Royal Greenland. Being MSC Approved means the company is fishing sustainably and importantly, fishing for the future.
At Friars Pride, we want to help safeguard the oceans and its wildlife, which is why we sell MSC Fish.
Recycling Your Used Cooking Oil
To prevent unnecessary oil wastage, we offer a Used Oil Collection Service. Our collection service provides a safe and certified way to dispose of waste oil, which helps the environment. Not only that, but we also pay competitive rates for your used cooking oil!
Friars Pride are ISCC certified (International Sustainability & Carbon certified biomass and bioenergy). We provide a full audit trail of the used cooking oil we collect.
We collect both solid and liquid waste oil from a variety of businesses and provide a waste transfer note with every collection for full traceability.
Your waste oil can then be used to generate electricity or be processed into biodiesel.
Recyclable Drum Scheme
We operate an oil filling station at our Peterborough depot. We sell oil in 20-litre reusable drums for Rapeseed and Groundnut Oils, these drums are managed via a return scheme and are used multiple times. The drums are cleaned before being refilled. After the drum can't be reused, they are recycled.
Recyclable Packaging
All our own brand packaging such as Hook & Fish and Fresh & Tasty, are fully recyclable. This means our packaging has a reduced carbon footprint and is overall, better for the environment! As part of the Hook & Fish range we offer the Fold It Bin It boxes, these boxes were an innovative design, working with local councils to create this box, it can be folded flat after use helping take less room up in bins and making it easy to dispose of!
We offer a wide range of packaging that is eco-friendly and sustainable, to help protect the environment and create a better future for our planet. Being members of the FPA makes sure we are always up to date with the latest sustainability requirements within the packaging industry.
Biodegradable Packaging
We sell a wide range of biodegradable packaging in a variety of sizes. Made from the sustainable plant resource, sugarcane, our bio boxes are 100% compostable and environmentally friendly.
Vehicle Petrol Alternatives
We are currently looking into alternatives for our diesel-run vehicles. We are exploring the possibility of using electric and biodiesel by using used cooking oil from fish and chip shops. We hope to find long-term, sustainable solutions for our delivery vehicles to make way for a greener future. More updates will follow on this as we find a solution.
Solar Panels
In our commitment to sustainability, we also support renewable energy.
By having solar panels on almost all our depot roofs, we are reducing our carbon footprint and generating electricity. We hope to continue and grow our use of renewable energy as new solutions are available.
