Our Commitment
As a food and drink manufacturer, we understand our responsibility to balance the needs of food safety and sustainability with the broader needs of the environment, in relation to waste and carbon footprint and we continue to develop our ESG programme and initiatives whist making significant developments.
We are working on our latest ESG report which is due for publication at the end of 2024. In the meantime, please use our contact form for any enquiries you have relating to ESG at Aimia Foods.
Protecting our Planet
We are evolving our strategy in line with emerging best practises on climate action, shifting our efforts to the areas we know will be the most impactful in driving progress towards establishing a Net Zero commitment. This begins with a move away from carbon neutrality claims based on offsets to apply more focus to emissions reductions within our value chain where it matters – increasing our energy and resource efficiency at a site level and appraising ways to reduce the embodied carbon within the products we sell.
As part of this change, we will continue working with external consultants to firstly improve our methodology for quantifying scope 3 emissions and gaining a better understanding of our true climate impacts, particularly from ingredients and packaging. With this insight we can then create a more effective plan to reduce carbon emissions both directly and indirectly.
Our aim is to have a reduction plan in place with set targets by end June 2025.
Packaging
We continually look for more sustainable packaging solutions, and whilst we have made huge progress, we pledge to do more.
- 100% of our jars contain 30% RHDPE.
- 100% of our PET bottles contain 51% RPET.
- All trays and outer cases are made using recycled paper.
Since 2021:
- All our shrink wrap contains 30% recycled content.
- All our stretch film contains 30% recycled content.
We work with suppliers to find alternative solutions to reduce single use plastics and increase the recyclability of containers, where plastics are required. We eliminated single use plastic straws for Shmoo in January 2019 and in 2021, we moved all retail SKUs in our Drink me Chai range to a fully recyclable metal tin, which will remove approximately 1 million composites from our production in 2022.
We will continue to reduce the use of non-recyclable composites by installing two new paper based composite machines, making any products produced on these lines, recyclable in kerb side recycling.
We collaborate with key suppliers to provide solutions for flexible plastics in our business and continue to trial alternative single layer materials on our lines that meet product safety and shelf-life requirements. Projects currently in progress:
- Pod film
- Pouch laminate
- Stick laminate
- PET sleeves
Sustainable & Ethical Sourcing
We work with a range of organisations that support global growers and producers, some of which include Fairtrade, Rain Forest Alliance, National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers (FNC), RSPO.
Serving our People & Community
Recruit for Attitude
We employ over 330 people, with one third of our workforce having over 10 years’ service. Our motto is ‘Recruit for attitude, train for skills’; we invest heavily in apprenticeships across a diverse range of functions including Customer Services, Accounts, Engineering, Sales, HR, Digital Marketing and Improving Operational Performance.
Inclusive Culture
We champion diversity, equity, and inclusion and partner with the job centre and other government agencies to support young and disabled people back into work through their Back to Work and Kickstart schemes.
Fundraising & Charity
Our charity committee support Willowbrook Hospice and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, through fundraising activities, and donations, as well as arranging donations to the Mission Christmas toy appeal. For over a decade we have donated over 100,000 cups of coffee to crisis at Christmas a homeless charity.
International Aid
Sales of the Drink me Chai brand support Pratham which is a UNICEF charity that addresses the chronic issue of illiteracy using innovative, low-cost solutions teach children to read and basic arithmetic in just six to eight weeks.
Fair Treatment for All
We are committed to fair treatment of all employees and eradicating hidden labour exploitation including modern slavery from our organisation, and we are proud to have implemented several initiatives to support this, including:
Accountability
Our employees have access to an independent Whistleblowing hotline, which they are encouraged to use to report any wrongdoing.
Empowered
All of our employees have been trained in spotting the signs of hidden labour exploitation and are empowered to report any suspicions to the GLAA helpline.
Stronger Together
We are members of Stronger Together and have two Stronger Together champions that audit our labour providers in accordance with the GLAA standards.
SEDEX
We have A/B membership to SEDEX which is dedicated to driving improvements in ethical and responsible business practices in global supply chains.
Committing to Ethical Practices
Our governance is based on our commitment to do the right thing - always. We value how we work, and we hold ourselves to the highest standards to provide better quality water. We have been integrating ESG principles into our risk management approaches for many years and we keep on accelerating our sustainable practices.
