By Lucy Dyer
May 20 2020, 21.45
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Given up making your own sourdough bread? But feel bad buying baked goods in single-use plastics? No problem!
In the face of COVID-19 we’ve seen a rise in companies returning to wrapping food items in single-use, non-recyclable plastics for hygiene and safety – but The Artisan Bakery has spent time forming a new solution.
As the west London bakery began changing its business from mainly supplying cafes and restaurants, where goods can be delivered without wrapping, to direct to consumer sales, where wrapping is required, they put the need for new packaging to be home-compostable and recyclable to the forefront.
The new wrapping is a film and tray which is plant fibre-based, manufactured from eucalyptus pulp from certified forests. This makes it both recyclable and home and industrially-compostable. The film biodegrades to biomass and carbon dioxide in a home compost bin quickly.
The Artisan Bakery managing director Andrew Murray said: “We have always been eco-conscious with our products, methods and low delivery miles and the whole team at the bakery has been struck by how nature has responded to the reductions in traffic and people across London.
“To do anything to compromise this would feel incredibly wrong. While hygiene and the safety of our customers is paramount at this time, we feel proud to be able to buck the trend of other food companies upping cheaper, non compostable plastic consumption in response to COVID-19.”
The bakery is supplying goods packaged with their new eco-friendly wrapping to Co-Ops across London, Milk and More, Amazon Fresh and more.
Now it’s time for other bakeries to prove their commitment to sustainability.
