We do Good Things with
Great Food
As a family business established in 1896, we think in generational terms. But long-term thinking must not mean that we’re slow to change. The climate, social and environmental pressures that are having such an obvious impact, and which are challenging the whole food system, demand action now.
At Samworth Brothers, we’re known for our commitment to doing the right thing. We are a Responsible Business, and we think and act for the long term – supporting people, a healthy planet and products that we’re proud of. To stay true to our purpose, we need to decarbonise our supply chains and operations, deliver healthier and more sustainable choices for our consumers, support the growth of our people, care for communities, protect vital resources and reduce our food waste. Our Responsible Business Plan, “Making GOOD things happen” identifies our priorities and shapes the positive impacts we can have.
We think of our Responsible Business Plan as a pie, with Samworth Brothers’ purpose at the heart and three connected ingredients: people, planet and products that frame how we’ll achieve our goals.
Responsible Business factsheets
Products
As a food company, our products are central to everything we do. The global food system is large and complex and has a major impact on people and the planet. Food production is responsible for more than one-third of all global greenhouse gases, and the UK also faces ongoing challenges in relation to health and nutrition. We’re committed to minimising such impacts.
Our Health & Nutrition plan and targets guide our development of future products. Currently, 56% of our products are classified as healthy under the UK Government’s nutrient profiling model. Food-to-go products have been reformulated to decrease salt, sugar and fat content, while 40% of our ready meals now contain at least one of the five recommended daily portions of fruit and vegetables, and 13% of those provide two or three portions. Our brands are also constantly looking for opportunities to make product ranges healthier.
For example, Higgidy has increased fibre content by nearly 10% and removed 560 million calories from its quiches and pies, and Soreen launched new vegan soft-bake Soreen Lift Bars, energy snacks that have less than 140 calories and contain naturally-occurring B vitamins, fibre, potassium and folate.
We are collaborating with Mondra, a technology company that assesses a product’s impact on climate, water and nature to understand how we can minimise our impacts further.
We aim to ensure all packaging is fully recyclable and is made from recycled materials where possible. We have reduced the plastic on our sandwich packaging by 65 tonnes per year. In food-to-go products, we switched to paper seals where possible, so the whole pack can be recycled as paper, and Ginsters is using a new brand of film that has saved 26 tonnes of plastic since its launch in summer 2023.
Planet
Many aspects of food production have negative impacts on the planet, including increasing greenhouse gases, habitat loss and food waste. As a food company, we recognise how we contribute to these issues. By following our purpose to do good things with great food, we can be part of the solution. We are rethinking our manufacturing processes to use less energy, minimise our food waste, and choose responsibly sourced ingredients. This allows us to make great products that have a lower impact, and we can encourage others in the food industry to do the same.
Ninety-nine percent of the palm oil we use is certified for sustainability and kept separately from non-sustainable palm oil throughout the supply chain.
We haven’t sent any food waste to landfill since 2015, and have removed almost 650 tonnes of plastic from our manufacturing.
We are committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and are taking action to make this happen, including switching to exclusively renewable electricity since 2018. In 2023 we made our operations more efficient (saving 259 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent), and set three key priorities to further reduce emissions, in the areas of process heat (includes improving energy efficiency), transportation (such as efficient route planning and alternative fuels), and refrigeration – we have already implemented climate-friendly alternatives to hydrofluorocarbons in three bakeries.
People
There are more than 12,500 colleagues at Samworth Brothers and we work together like a family. We also care for the people in our communities and throughout our supply chain. We want to have a positive influence on a wide range of local issues, such as tackling food insecurity, promoting healthy lifestyles and supporting the economy through jobs and training opportunities. We also want to be a force for good in securing the fair treatment of people involved in growing and making the ingredients we use.
We support projects that are designed to support healthy, happy lifestyles for young people via the Samworth Brothers Community Opportunity Fund, which sees us provide grants to grassroots youth sports clubs and community food projects, particularly those that provide food education for young people. To date the Fund has made awards exceeding £2 million.
Every two years we host the Samworth Brothers Charity Challenge. This endurance event is an opportunity for our colleagues, customers and suppliers to get active, while also raising money for charities of their choice. Since 2007, the Charity Challenge has generated donations of nearly £3 million to good causes.
Samworth Brothers has directly donated and distributed 2.7 million meals to those in need and redistributed 1,161 tonnes of surplus food through the Company Shop and FareShare, who support families by providing high-quality low-cost food. We also distributed over the equivalent of 327,000 meals as part of our school holidays food programme in partnership with Leicestershire Cares.
Our new Surplus to Purpose project, in partnership with FareShare and Company Shop, helps reduce food waste and we have joined other leading food businesses as a signatory of the Coronation Food Project, inspired by His Majesty King Charles III, which aims to support the 13 million people in the UK that are experiencing food insecurity.
Everyone who works with us is treated fairly and we have a strong network of partnerships to guide us. We are members of Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange) and are audited to the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) standard. Partners include Stronger Together, an initiative that tackles modern slavery in supply chains, as well as the Slave-Free Alliance and Food Network for Ethical Trade (FNET).
Responsible business report
Responsible business report 2023
For more on our approach and progress on sustainability, please read our Responsible Business report.
Supporting documents:
– Environmental Policy
– GRI Index
– Modern Slavery Statement 2023
– Responsible Marketing Policy
– Responsible Sourcing Policy
– SASB Index