Sustainability
For over 30 years’ we’ve tried to make good choices. Our commitment to bringing you delicious, affordable organic food that supports healthy and sustainable diet is stronger than ever. We’re here to help you make sustainable everyday choices one glass, spoon or bowl at a time.
Our Sustainable Approach
As farmers we know first-hand the impact climate change is having on our planet. The environmental and social challenges that are facing the world have never been greater. The food we eat, and how that food is produced, sourced, packaged and disposed of has major consequences.
Organic farming is a system governed by legal standards, and regularly and independently inspected. We believe it produces food in a way that benefits people, animals, wildlife, society and the natural world. No other defined system of farming and food production comes close to delivering such a breadth of benefits.
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
We’re doers not talkers, so we’ve measured our carbon footprint with the experts at RISE, who’ve done the sums and calculated the emissions of many of our products.
That means we’ve looked at everything from our farms to your fridge. Or if we’re being technical that is scope 1, 2 and 3. The entire lifecycle of our products, from the ingredients we use, to the energy in our factories, transportation; right through to you taking it home and putting it in your fridge.
Most emissions occur at the farm level, which is why we are so obsessed with healthy soil which acts like a carbon sponge.
Find out more about why we love sniffing soil and why it’s important?
Custodians of the Land
Our pledge is to work with farmers to absorb more carbon into the soil and plants than is emitted throughout the life cycle of our products.
Our farms are the place where it all begins. And our organic farmers are integral to the future of our nation’s sustainable food system.
As custodians of the land, farmers are our very future. Over the next decade we will be looking at all our practices, optimising feed and crop efficiencies, managing healthy contented cows and producing the highest quality organic milk in the most efficient way possible.
Methane
Methane from cattle burps and manure is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. In digesting their high fibre diet, cows emit methane as a byproduct through their burps and manure. Dairy farmers can have a large impact on global warming by reducing methane emissions which would be felt in several decades rather than centuries like CO2.
It’s not possible to reduce a cow’s methane emissions completely, but it can be significantly reduced, for example through optimised feed composition, manure management and storage. Our focus over the coming decades will be to work with our organic farmers to improve soil health and promote biodiversity, supporting the positive development of the whole farm environment and supporting regenerative ecosystems. Going beyond sustainability to make a positive regenerative change read more about the projects we’re working on with our organic farmers.
Our factories
More than a place for making milk, yogurts and ice cream, they are communities. They are part of sustaining a long-term future for the circular economy. It’s where all of our products and innovations are created and where tomorrow’s will be too. They will continue to meet the economic, social, and environmental challenges we face. Find out more about working for us.
ENERGY
Our sites in the West Country have reduced their carbon footprint by approximately 40% over the past two decades by making energy efficiencies in refrigeration and utilising heat recovery.
We also have over 10,000 solar panels on our production sites in the South-west and one acre of solar panels on the cow shed at our founding farm. It’s important to us that the electricity we need to buy is also from renewable sources, which is why we’ve been buying green electricity in the Valley for over 20 years. Read more in our powered by nature blog.
PACKAGING
Our packaging allows us to bring you organic goodness in tip-top condition. We’re continually making innovations to make it even more sustainable. This is why we became the UK’s first dairy brand to introduce 100% recycled RPET yogurt pots. RPET - Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (RPET) is simply a plastic which has already been used at least once, recycled, and put back into use. Yeo got this!
We’ll be continuing to innovate to ensure our packaging can be recycled and safely reused again and again, so it remains part of the circular economy and reduces waste. Read more on how we’re closing the loop...
All doing our bit
What you do at home, counts for 10% of our emissions so we’ll be continuing to encourage you to reuse and recycle at home. Did you know that 6.6 million tonnes of the UK’s food gets thrown away every year?
From smart storage to getting creative with leftovers, we want to help turn waste into wonders. Check out our recipe page for ideas on how to use up that last bit of Yeo…
