Nantwich Food Festival 2024 exhibitors who go the extra mile to protect the planet have been recognised by a local environment group.
Sustainable Nantwich worked with festival organisers and the mayor, Stuart Bostock, to select winners for the Sustainability Award, which credits people who think about how their products and business model protects the environment.
And this year the top three contenders were so impressive that they were awarded joint first place.
The winners are:
- Gangplank Spirits and Preserves – a Nantwich canal boat-based family business who show a total commitment to sustainability from the product, sourcing local wild foraged ingredients, to the packaging. Judges say they do well to minimise their carbon footprint as much as possible, whilst maximising taste.
- Cheshire Botanicals/Nantwich Gin – a relative newcomer which clearly wants to minimise its impact and has made great strides in calculating its carbon footprint. Judges said they were refreshingly open to advice to achieve this and their charitable activities were impressive.
- Hallsford Farm Produce – a Cumbria farm with a long track record of incremental improvements. Their adoption of regenerative agriculture is a positive model for the future of farming. The company is making a difference year after year.
Special mentions go to local mobile ice cream operation – Polly’s Parlour: with
a good selection of vegan ice creams and a real awareness of carbon impacts, and DK Aperitifs from the south coast which demonstrates an impressive approach to alternatives to alcoholic drinks which taste great with a clear environmental commitment.
Mayor Stuart said: “It was wonderful that two of the top environmental performers at the show were local family firms. Nantwich really is a caring community.
“Food production has a massive impact on our environment and health. Our farms and countryside provide our food and a home for nature. Food production uses a lot of energy and materials. Cutting waste and sourcing energy use and raw materials that protect the planet – that’s good business.
“The Sustainability Awards matter. We need all exhibitors to take sustainability this seriously in years to come. Nantwich is a brilliant showcase for the very best in the business – feeding the future health and well-being of planet Earth.”
