Green-minded SMEs in the food and drink industry have been making waves. For example, Made for Drink has invested in a large plot of ancient woodland to offset their long-term, carbon neutral status, The Coconut Collaborative has planted thousands of coconut trees to support Southeast Asian farmers in Bali. Meanwhile, Hunter & Gather has worked alongside a farmer’s co-operative in Kenya. In this way small businesses are trying to balance out bottom-line gains with sincere corporate social responsibility.
Purely Plantain is the company behind the We Love Purely brand, and it too intends to ‘do the right thing’. Founder Stef Pellegrino has adopted a coherent strand of ‘caring capitalism’ with an Ecuadorian food production community collaborating closely with her Birmingham-based business. The product is produced at source in Ecuador as the local community has unrivalled plantain production prowess.
The company does not use any palm oil in the production of the range, which is low in calories, high in fibre and HFSS* compliant. It has also committed to back a small, Ecuadorian-based charity near its production facility. The Casa Hogar de Balen caring centre is a non-government funded initiative which gives shelter, food and hope to children who experience the region’s worsening ‘food poverty’.
*The UK government’s online advertising restriction for products high in fat, sugar and salt since July 2021 (HFSS). This is the newest barometer by which the government is seeking to crack down on needlessly high fat, sugar or salt snack consumption.