Since we began our B Corp journey over five years ago, we have been diligently measuring our impact across every area of the business. During this time, we have seen significant improvements and while impact measurement can be challenging, the overall results speak for themselves and motivate us to continue our efforts. Through measurement, record-keeping, and analysis, we can identify where to focus our attention and drive further improvements so that we can continue to conduct our business in a way that supports nature, our soil, our team and our customers.

The purpose of an impact report is to provide insight into The Garlic Farm's ongoing journey, enabling both our team and customers to track our progress, celebrate achievements, acknowledge shortcomings, and commit to continuous improvement and future goals.

Our impact measurement strategy is underpinned by a dual focus on efficiency and respect; efficient utilisation of resources and the utmost respect for all individuals and the environment we operate in.

Efficiency lies at the core of our operations, encompassing:

• Waste Reduction                   
• Resource efficiency               
• Environment and ecology         
• Considered purchasing             

Respect, on the other hand, is reflected through our commitment to:

• Financial security                   
• Wellness and Safety                 
• Customers and Community       
• Training and development       

This report delves into these specific areas where we are actively working to enhance our impact measurement practices, striving to capture the full extent of our contributions across the business. 

Efficiency

Reduce waste

Efficiency is at the heart of our operations, encompassing waste reduction initiatives aimed at minimising our environmental footprint and promoting sustainability. We have set ambitious targets to divert waste from landfill and have made significant progress towards achieving them.

Our targets: 50% diverted from landfill across both sites
Actual: 52.1% diverted from landfill across both sites

What are we already doing?

• Increased awareness across our stakeholders of waste reduction and correct recycling methods
• Team recycling training from Biffa personnel
• Quarterly waste reporting and brainstorming at Green Ambassador meetings
• Best Green Efforts awards at management meetings
• Replaced all Zorba freeze (sent to landfill post use) with a Hydrapack (a water based freezing agent and recyclable packet)
• Ceased to use polystyrene pads for insulation of our chilled lines, replaced with cardboard
• Replaced hand towels with energy efficient hand dryers across both sites

What are we doing to improve?

• Spot checks of our general waste bins at both our sites to locate where we are sending unnecessary, recyclable waste to landfill
• Continuing to raise awareness across stakeholder groups
• Ongoing efforts to reduce or improve packaging of our fresh and ambient lines
• Scheduled Impact Measurement workshop with Greenheart consultancy to create a clear and concise action plan for future environmental and social impact targets from 6 months to 5 yrs
• Goal for 2024/25: 60% diverted from landfill

Food waste

Efforts to reduce food waste have been a key focus area for us, with significant progress made in this regard.

Target: 10% reduction in food waste
Actual: 31% reduction in total food waste since year ending 30th of June 2023

What are we already doing?

• Measuring our food waste every day
• Monitoring portion sizes
• Team awareness of food waste reduction targets

Other food waste initiatives

In March 2024 we installed a new composting system (Ridan, Bokashi bins and wormery) allowing us to compost 50% of all our food waste (all raw food waste) on site, transforming it into high grade compost for our soils. By composting all raw food waste on site and not sending it to an off island biodigester, we have saved 400+kg of carbon emissions.

Wild Island invested in a new cider press for juicing tomatoes which has caused an decrease in food waste of 5kg per batch and produced and a significant increase in yield.

What are we doing to improve?

• Continue 50% of food-waste composted on site
• 100% raw food waste to be composted on site through the Ridan and wormery
• 40% reduction in all food waste (prep and plate) by 2025
• All waste garlic sent to charity where appropriate or composted on site
• Continue to train and brainstorm with our team for increased food waste reduction
• Continue to educate and inform our stakeholders of our food waste journey and reduction targets

Resource efficiency

Efforts to optimise energy use and resource efficiency are essential components of our sustainability strategy.

Energy Use

Efficiency is our goal when it comes to energy use, and reducing our energy use overall is always the aim, no matter where we are generating our energy from, whether it be the grid, renewable, or our own resources.

Target: 10% total energy reduction against baseline

Electric

• Wholesale and office: 47% decrease against baseline year
• Restaurant and shop: 11% decrease
• Total energy reduction across company = 29%

Solar

• Wholesale and office: 33.6% of total electricity generated by solar
• Restaurant and Shop: 20% of total electricity generated by solar
• Total solar generated across company = 27%

Biomass

Our biomass boiler uses imported wooden pellets which have a carbon emission due to the transport required to our site. For this reason, we try to limit the use of the biomass boiler and instead use our own biomass from carefully managed woodlands on our land which we burn in log burners in all our properties and public spaces. We train our staff in the most efficient use of these burners to ensure we are only using what we need.

• 20% decrease in energy created through biomass since baseline yr
  
  

What are we already doing?

• Raising awareness across the company of energy saving targets
• Analysing energy use at quarterly Green Ambassador meetings
• Replacing conventional bulbs with LED’s across both sites
• Invested in solar wherever possible

What are we doing to improve?

• Planning for further solar installation (scheduled for November 2024 and predicted to produce 50.21 MWh of energy per year and save 9.71t of CO2 emissions annually)
• Continuing to raise awareness of energy use with our team and customers
• Continuing to closely monitor and report energy use quarterly
• Continuing with careful woodland management for sustainable wood production

Water Usage, Water Saving and Wastewater Processing

Efforts to reduce water consumption and implement sustainable wastewater processing systems are integral to our environmental stewardship.

Target = 10% reduction against baseline

Wholesale and Office: 41% reduction
Restaurant and Shop: 23% reduction

WET system installation:
Our WETsystem, installed in April 2024, is an ecological wastewater processing system which now processes all the wastewater from our restaurant, shop and accommodation, and purifies it into clean water which we will use to water our fields. Aside from the circular system and reduced waste, the WETSystem has made significant improvements to the biodiversity and ecology of our site. More on this under ‘Ecology and Environment’

What are we already doing?

• Using harvested rainwater for all plants at our Mersley site
• Raising awareness amongst the team of water saving techniques
• Replacing IBC water troughs with mobile, solar powered pumps and troughs

What are we doing to improve?

• Installing 10 more water butts across the site for increased water harvesting
• Continued close monitoring of water use allows us to quickly identify leaks and fix accordingly

Environment and ecology

Our commitment to environmental sustainability is reflected in our actions to preserve and enhance the natural ecosystems in which we operate.

What are we already doing?

• Upholding certifications: Soil association, Pasture for Life
• Achieving 80% self sufficiency in biomass for onsite heat through log burners
• Created baselines for soil health and water quality to be assessed each year
• Established a mob grazing system to improve soil health, stimulate plant growth and sequester carbon
• Achieved 90% self sufficiency in pasture raised beef for our restaurant
• Installed a WET system to process all waste water and increase biodiversity. The WET system processes up to 10 m3 of water each day into water for irrigating our crops.
• Implementing an impact measurement plan to include annual carbon measurement, a soil health program and educational program to share findings
• Established a biodiversity baseline from which to measure changes yr on yr
• Implementing a woodland management system to sustainably manage our woodlands

What are we doing to improve?

• Planning a gradual transition of our products and business to 100% organic status
• Continuing to research and educate ourselves on the best practice for organic farming from experts in UK and Europe

• Planning to use our recent ecological survey to formalise our nature-recovery plan

Considered Purchasing

Our approach to procurement focuses on ethical sourcing and supporting local suppliers.

What are we already doing

What are we doing to improve?

• Continuing to investigate more organic lines of produce
• Continuing to work with our suppliers to support each other with our sustainability efforts

Financial Security
Ensuring the financial well-being of our employees and our company is a core aspect of our commitment to social responsibility.

What are we already doing?

• We continue to be a certified Living Wage Foundation employer
• Including financial security topics in our employee survey to highlight any particular areas where we can have a positive impact as an employer
• Providing information to all our team about pensions and all other benefits available to them

What are we doing to improve?

• Offering free financial support via paid time to do online webinars followed by one to ones for those who wish to attend
• Continuing to commit to LWF
• Continuing to monitor our team’s financial wellbeing via our annual survey and actioning any issues or weaknesses as they arise

Wellness and safety
Ensuring a safe working environment and promoting the health and wellbeing of our team is a priority for our business.

What are we already doing?

• Conducting an annual team satisfaction survey
• Implemented a Health & Safety Review across the business to update all risk assessments
• Honouring our commitment to both health cover schemes and have a dedicated budget for team welfare/social activities.
• Issued our Menopause Policy
• Offering reduced subsidized subscriptions to local gym and CrossFit centres
• Promoting the cycle to work scheme
• Annual full team walk led by directors

What are we doing to improve?

• Continuing to look at other B Corps for inspiration on wellness and safety
• Improving team areas for breaks to allow for more relaxing breaktimes
• Encouraging and compensating more team social events such as lunches and drinks
• Aiming for a 10% increase across key areas of concern from annual team satisfaction survey; financial security, team training, stress at work

Customers and Community

What are we already doing?

Volunteering and Charitable Donations

Volunteering Target = Each full-time employee to spend one day per year volunteering at a local charity of choice

• Our team spent a total of 257.23hrs on volunteering, charity work and community involvement
• Maintaining 4.5* and above rating across all of our customer feedback channels
• Donating our waste/wonky garlic to charities such as City Harvest, Fairshare and Refugee Kitchen
• Donating to local charities and causes
• Offering a free copy of our Garlic Press to all our customers with information on our regenerative agriculture practices
• Offering informative farm walks and talks with members of the working family team throughout school holidays
• Our directors sit on the board and contribute to a variety of local community groups such as LCA, NFU, Environmental farmers groups, Isle of Wight biosphere steering committee, Connected Wight, Nature Friendly Farming Network
• Offering year round free access to our farm land for members of the public and educational visits

What are we doing to improve?

• Creating an in-house charity fundraiser at which all team members can volunteer and from which all proceeds will go to a charity of choice
• Focusing our charitable donations towards improving young people’s connection with food and nutrition on the Isle of Wight

Training and development

What are we already doing?

• Annual all team training
• Customer service training for all customer facing team members
• Full review of First Aid, Fire Marshalling, Food Safety and Health & Safety training updates
• Holding farm walks for all team members to train teams on agroecological practices and outcomes

What are we doing to improve?

• Continuing to host and improve our annual all team training
• Continuing to offer training and development opportunities to all members of the team who request it
• Work related training opportunities to be offered at each one-to-one

Thank you for taking the time to read our impact report. As the world faces increasing climate, economic, and political challenges, it feels more important than ever to continue recording, analysing, and investigating ways to reduce our impact, support our workforce, and engage our local community. We hope that our efforts may inspire you on your own journey to minimise impact and promote sustainable practices. By sharing our findings and experiences, we aim to foster a collective commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility. We aspire to create a ripple effect that encourages others to take meaningful action within their own organisations and communities. We look forward to collaborating with you and others who share our vision for a more sustainable future, and we welcome any feedback or ideas you may have to further enhance our impact.