Change thats baked in: How our family run bakery is responding to the sustainability challenge in 2025

I remember as a young lad Fairtrade was a big deal. Fairtrade is still a big deal but its definitely not as prominent. When we are doing a food shop we are more likely to be asking ourselves 'does this sourdough loaf contain palm oil?' or 'is this jam organic?'. Both valid questions.

The needle moves all the time, customers tastes change and that can be particularly challenging for us small guys, especially us small guys that have been around a long time! As a small business it can be easy to become overwhelmed by all the information and standards and balancing what customers think a sustainable business is and what a sustainable business actually looks like.

The bakeries sustainability journey started in 2021. A chain bakery had just opened up in the village and we were scrabbling to find points of differentiation ... then it struck me! Using a Carbon calculator I worked out we save 10,000kg of CO2 a year by not having to transport our goods by van.

It is small victories like this that have defined our approach to sustainability ever since. Slowly phasing out plastic packaging and now single use packaging (who wants a fresh loaf in a plastic bag anyway). You won't find any unnecessary posh eco packaging that doubles the price of your coffee in our shop! What you will find is significantly less packaging. 

Allowing customers to bring their own mugs to the shop instead of having a takeaway cup, water in cartons instead of plastic bottles ... the list goes on and its added up to a greener, happier business than existed three years ago. We've realised that small changes that make business sense is how change will truly become baked in. 

You can follow St Mawes bakeries sustainability journey by joining our mailing list here. 

Contact the author:

Oliver Curtis PGCert AMIMA | olivercountspasties@protonmail.ch