Introducing the Watercress Guru: Tom Amery

Tom Amery, widely known as 'The Watercress Guru', is the MD of the UK's largest grower of watercress, The Watercress Company which is based in Dorset. 

As a dedicated advocate for this highly nutritious, deliciously peppery leafy green that has been recently declared the 'world's healthiest food', Tom's mission is to bring watercress back into the spotlight and help people rediscover its incredible nutritional value.

The Watercress Revolution

Far more than a garnish, no other square metre of crop could produce multiple harvests and offer such nutrient density as a naturally fertilised, non-polluting watercress bed. It's incredibly rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, which, according to the ANDI nutrient index, ranks it way ahead of superfoods such as blueberries, edamame, broccoli or spinach.

Wildlife 

Watercress is famed for its ability to improve water quality. The mineral-rich, fertile rivers and streams that flow from the watercress beds provide a healthy ecosystem with critical habitats for a variety of species, including endangered white-clawed crayfish, eels, slow-worms, grass snakes, minnows and toads with owls in nearby trees.

Background

Tom studied Commercial Horticulture at Writtle College which cultivated his love of nature and pursuit for sustainable farming practices. This experience, together with an overseas trip to Zimbabwe and Australasia after college, encouraged Tom further, but on his return to the UK he was searching for a more unique crop to work with.

Tom joined The Watercress Company in 1999 as Trainee Technical Manager. Nearly 24 years later, there are few people who know more about the cultivation and wonder of watercress than Tom. He works tirelessly investing into watercress research, developing growing practices with the team and the challenge of delivering fresh watercress to consumers throughout the UK. 

Tom Amery - The Watercress Guru, says, “I am on a mission to elevate watercress to its rightful place in our diets. It's not only a delicious choice, but a responsible one for our health and the environment. Just adding watercress to our diet once a week will impart significant health benefits and improve our wellbeing.” 

Getting watercress on the menu

To encourage the nation to embrace watercress, Tom collaborates with chefs to develop innovative recipes. Over the years, Tom has worked with names such as The Hairy Bikers, Marcus Wareing, Jamie Oliver, Mary Berry, Raymond Blanc, John Torode and other food heroes to spread the word about watercress's versatility and unique flavour.

Entrepreneurship

The thriving Watercress Company that Tom operates serves as a model for responsible agriculture, showcasing the importance of clean water sources and low-input growing practices. The UK-based company runs farms across Hampshire, Dorset and for winter supply - in Jerez, Spain.

https://www.thewatercresscompany.com.

Fruitful pickings. Tesco works with Veolia to recycle soft plastic and support schools across the UK

Tesco is teaming up with the top sustainable resource management company Veolia, Groundwork and local councils to introduce greener areas in schools, and give children a stronger, better start by learning more about thir environment.

The Veolia Orchard campaign will be donating nearly 600 fruit trees and 800 strawberry plants to schools which are hampered by having limited space or having no green areas at all. 

Now in its second successful year the scheme has grown across another 190 schools thanks to the generous support of 22 local councils.

To help house the plants, Tesco will be donating special planters which are made using from recycled soft plastics, which have been collected in its stores from customers to help recycle plastics that can't always be collected via kerbside collections. 

Soft plastic used in each planter could include bread bags, carrier bags and pasta packets, all collected taken from Tesco’s in-store drop off locations, and will help recycle approximately 7.3 tonnes of materials. 

The apple and pear trees and strawberry plants, provided by Grow at Brogdale who specialise in organic plant care, will be delivered to the winning schools during the month of November, when the trees will have dropped their leaves and gone hibernation, thus giving them the best possible chance of surviving our winter weather. Veolia’s own ProGrow will also be providing peat-free compost to fill the planters up.

Veolia Orchard is part of Veolia's Sustainable Schools programme, which aims to help teach children and younger adults the importance of protecting our planet and our environment. Tesco’s own Stronger Starts campaign supports the physical and mental wellbeing of children, encouraging healthy eating alongside learning and opportunities to get more active.

Pascal Hauret, Managing Director, Municipal at Veolia said: “Improving air quality around schools, engaging pupils on the power of plants and finding innovative recycling solutions which contribute the greater benefit to the communities we serve in is all part of our purpose to deliver ecological transformation. 

"Considering the fact that we only launched Veolia Orchard last year, we're thrilled at how popular the campaign is with schools and are delighted to be able to support almost double the amount we did in 2022.” 

Courtney Pallett, Tesco’s Packaging Campaigns Manager said: “Our in-store recycling locations help make soft plastics even easier for our customers to recycle. We’re obviously really pleased to work with Veolia to turn the plastic waste we collect into something new,  keeping the waste out of the environment and helping create greener learning spaces for children in our local communities.”

Tesco’s 4Rs packaging strategy aims to remove plastic where it can, reduce it where it can't, reuse more and recycle what's left. To date, Tesco has removed over 2 billion pieces of plastic from its UK business, including: 

●    200+ million bags from Tesco.com deliveries

●    100+ million extra lids from products such as wipes, creams, yogurts and desserts

●    50 million pieces of plastic wrapping from cans of branded beers and ciders

For more information on Veolia Orchard, or Veolia’s Sustainable Schools programme, visit www.veolia.co.uk/schools.

Startup NatureMetrics wins 2023 Tesco Agri T-Jam competition and the chance to partner with Tesco’s suppliers

NatureMetrics has won the 2023 Tesco Agri T-Jam Competition, securing fast-track introductions to the Tesco supplier network and a trial with one of the retailer’s supply chain partners.

Now in year, six, the Tesco Agri T-Jam pitching event, run in partnership with Leading Edge Only, saw 10 different agri start-ups pitch to a panel of Tesco sustainable agriculture and commercial experts, Tesco suppliers, and stakeholders to find the most promising agriculture innovations that were available.

This year, the event was dominated by innovations capable of contributing to Tesco’s aim of building more sustainable supply chains, incorporating ideas with solutions to support on-farm measurement, data analytics, and supporting farmers in making informed choices around complex sustainability issues.

NatureMetrics, represented at the pitch event by its Head of Agriculture, Tom Ludwig, won the competition for its innovative solution which measures biodiversity using eDNA analysis of soil, water, and insects. 

The innovation converts this complex but vitally important data into simple metrics which can be viewed through its Nature Intelligence Platform, allowing users to comprehensively report on biodiversity improvement in their supply chain.

Commenting on the competition this year, Natalie Smith, Head of Sustainable Agriculture at Tesco, said: “We are obviously absolutely thrilled to welcome NatureMetrics to our network, and to offer them the important opportunity to work with our suppliers and experience direct feedback and mentoring from our Sustainable Agriculture team. In an incredibly strong field, Tom Ludwig demonstrated his commitment to biodiversity and really impressed the whole of the judging panel."

She went on to say: “This competition is designed to help us find innovators who can help us build long-term resilience within our supply base, addressing key sustainability challenges so we can continue our progress towards our stretching climate and biodiversity targets. I’d like to thank all of our finalists for taking part. And I’m absolutely certain that there will be more opportunities in the future for these innovators to work with Tesco suppliers.”

Ludwig will also receive a one-year free membership to both Agri-TechE and Agri-EPI Centre and will have the fantastic chance to present on stage at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit taking place in London on 26-27 September, to an audience of nearly 1,000 international senior ag-tech decision-makers and innovators.

Alongside Tom Ludwig, the other finalists were: Viridian (Angus Middleton), Flexifarm (Kevin Gooding), Map of Ag (Joe Towers), Bloomfield (Mark DeSantis), Laguzze (Laurent Vigouelle), Yard Stick PBC (Chris Tolles), Snapp Laab (Donat Posta), Protiomix Ltd (Stephan Jaffe), and Sunamp (Ana Amaral).

Scott Sharp, founder and CEO of Leading Edge Only, said: “We're please and delighted for Tom and for all of the applicants who were shortlisted. This is a life-changing opportunity and it's incredibly exciting to see the level of talent across start-ups in the agri-tech space. We are confident that we will continue to hear these names as they each make their stamp within the landscape over the next few years.”

www.tesco.com

Aldi reduces plastic wrapping on minced beef

Aldi has announced it is trialling the sale of vacuum and flow-wrap packed beef mince to cut the amount of plastic packaging it users by up to 73%.

As well as significantly reducing plastic use, the changes are expected to increase the shelf life of minced beef, keeping products fresher for longer, without impacting either quality or taste.

The trials are taking place to see which packaging customers prefer alongside looking at how the supermarket can further reduce plastic waste in the future.

The aim of the trial is to understand which packaging customers prefer alongside helping Aldi the further cut plastic waste.

The new packaging removes the need for paper linings and no carbon dioxide is used in production, delivering further environmental benefits without impacting the quality or taste of the product.

In fact, the new packaging is expected to increase the shelf life of minced beef by keeping it fresher for longer.

The vacuum packaging trial has gone live across select stores in Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire. (EDITOR: That's us covered, then!)

The flow-wrap trial will be rolled out in the same areas later in the year during November.

Luke Emery, who holds the role of Aldi's Plastics and Packaging Director, said: “At Aldi we're constantly reviewing ways to become more eco-friendly and reduce plastic use wherever possible.

“These trials promise a range of environmental benefits without impact on quality and it could lead to significant reductions in plastic, food miles and food waste if rolled out across all our stores.”

The move follows Aldi’s switch to colourless milk caps across all of its 990 UK stores in a bid to improve the recyclability of the bottles.

The roll out will mean a further 200 tonnes of High-Density Polythene (rHDPE) in the bottle tops can be reused to create new milk bottles. 

Green first for Morrisons as it becomes first UK supermarket to introduce coffee pod recycling points

There's some exciting news for ecologically-minded shoppers as Morrisons is becoming the first UK supermarket to introduce coffee pod recycling points at its stores.

The return bins from coffee pod recycling scheme ‘Podback’ is launching in 29 stores this month. 

Used aluminium and plastic pods will be turned into new products including drinks cans, plastic crates and garden furniture.

The move which is being trialled in 29 stores is in partnership with Podback, the specialist pod recycling service. 

In an effort to make coffee pod recycling even easier and more convenient, Morrisons is trialling a new drop-off service which allows customers to collect their Podback recycling bags, fill them up with their used pods, and recycle in a dedicated bin which will be sited at the front of the store.

Last year, Morrisons announced it was the first supermarket to support Podback and remains the only one to provide free coffee pod recycling bags for its customers to collect in all of its stores. The recycling bags can be filled at home and be taken to one of 6,500 Yodel drop off points around the UK with all postage covered by Podback. 

Over the last year, it's estimated 800 million coffee pods were bought in the UK, making it even more important than ever for customers to have an easier route to recycle their pods.  

Morrisons is also set to become a dedicated Podback member, meaning Morrisons own-brand pods can all be recycled through the scheme, besides 24 other pod brands across the coffee sector. 

Customers need to use correctly colour coded bags, there's one for aluminium pods and one for plastic pods. This is because pods are separated and sent to different recycling processing plants in the UK.

Through Podback, used aluminium pods are turned back into aluminium ingots for new products, like beverage cans, and the used plastic coffee pods are turned into other plastic items,  including building products and plastic crates. And there's more! The used coffee grounds go through a special anaerobic digestion process, which makes useful biogas and soil improver.

Natasha Cook, who is the Sustainable Packaging and Plastics Manager at Morrisons, said: “We’re excited to be launching this trial with Podback as we look to make it even easier for our customers who want to brew fresh coffee at home to recycle their used coffee pods. Now they can grab a Podback bag, fill it at home and just drop it off on their next store trip.”  

Rick Hindley, the Executive Director at Podback, said: “Morrisons was the first supermarket to become a supporter of Podback and we’re thrilled that they’re now set to become a member; enabling their own brand pods to be recycled through the service and working with us to further improve access to coffee pod recycling by trialling a new drop-off system. 

"This is another exciting step forward towards providing consumers with easy and convenient ways to recycle their used coffee pods. We also welcome and encourage other retailers to join Podback and make it even easier for consumers to recycle pods in the future.”

Morrisons stores across the UK currently offer soft plastic, battery and inkjet recycling facilities. Since 2017 Morrisons has reduced its own brand plastic packaging in its 499 stores by over 10,000 tonnes a year.

The following Morrisons stores now offer Podback drop off points with more stores to follow:

Aldershot

Letchworth

Aylesbury

Melton Mowbray

Banbury

Milton Keynes

Basingstoke

Northampton – Kettering Road

Bedford

Northampton – Victoria Promenade

Bracknell

Reading

Carterton

St Albans

Corby

Shefford

Farnborough

Watford

Fleet

Wellingborough

High Wycombe

Welwyn Garden City

Hoddersdon

Weybridge

Houghton Regis

Woking

Kettering

Wokingham

Leighton Buzzard

Volunteers from Co-op and Brixworth Wombles undertake “clean sweep” of village to tackle local litter hotspots

A ‘clean sweep’ of Brixworth was undertaken recently by over 20 Co-op colleagues who combined forces with the Brixworth Wombles to tackle local litter hotspots.

The Co-op team, consisting of store managers from across the county of Northamptonshire, arranged the activity in support of ‘the great big green week’, collecting and removing several bags of litter from areas including local streets and road verges and, the Ashway and St David’s Parks.

Steve Littlewood, Co-op’s Brixworth Store Manager, who helped to organise the activity, said: “The Co-op is committed to making a difference in its local communities, and litter isn't only unsightly, but it's also  harmful to our wildlife and our natural environment, too. 

"We were able to remove several sacks of litter from local road verges and community spaces. It's really great what you can achieve when you work together. It wasn't only an enjoyable day, but we were also able to improve the appearance of the area for the benefit of the entire community.”

Brixworth Wombles are one of the current round of causes to benefit from Co-op’s Local Community Fund at the Brixworth store, where Co-op makes a donation to community causes and organisations when Members buy own-branded products and services – so it's Members make a difference locally simply by shopping at Co-op.

For more information about the benefits of Co-op Membership, visit www.coop.co.uk/membership.

https://greatbiggreenweek.com.

Lidl is extending Prevented Ocean Plastic™ to its water bottle packaging

From next month, July, Lidl's San Celestino Italian sparkling mineral water bottles will incorporate the ocean bound plastic.

The permanent change will prevent the equivalent of nearly 4 million plastic water bottles from entering the ocean annually.

Also Lidl's changing all milk caps from coloured to clear, further boosting their recyclability.

Lidl GB has announced it will be incorporating Prevented Ocean Plastic™ into its water bottle and is the first UK supermarket to make this change.

Appearing in store throughout July, Lidl’s 1 litre San Celestino Italian Sparkling Mineral Water bottles will contain a minimum of 30% Prevented Ocean Plastic™,  plastic which would otherwise have ended up in the ocean.

With 12 million bottles of the everyday item sold annually, this initiative is expected to save nearly 100 tonnes of plastic from entering our oceans annually, per year, equivalent to almost 4 million plastic water bottles.

The move builds on Aldi's previous efforts in being green. Lidl has been leading the way since 2020, when it became the first UK supermarket to introduce food packaging using Prevented Ocean Plastic™. 

Since then, it's been rolled out across a range of Lidl’s own-brand fresh fish, breaded poultry, sausage and fresh fruit products, meaning Aldi's already prevented the equivalent of in excess of 15 million plastic water bottles from entering the ocean.

Doubling down on their commitments, Lidl is also taking steps to improve the recyclability of its plastic. Last year, the discounter transitioned its semi-skimmed fresh milk with supplier Müller over to clear caps from coloured.

Over the next two months, in partnership with both Müller and Cornish Farm, it's transitioning its entire milk range to clear caps.

The rollout of colourless milk caps this year will support industry wide retention of 4000 tonnes of bottle top material to be used again within the food sector.

Shyam Unarket, who is the Head of Responsible Sourcing and Ethical Trade at Lidl GB, said:  “Ocean plastic pollution is a pressing environmental concern, it is expected that by 2050 there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish. 

"As pioneers of integrating ocean bound plastic into our packaging in 2020, we have been consistently building and improving on our efforts since, and are proud to now extend Prevented Ocean Plastic™ into water bottles. Through this latest product development, we hope to inspire wider efforts across the industry.”

Prevented Ocean Plastic™ packaging, supplied and developed in conjunction with Bantam Materials, is made from discarded water bottles found in Southeast Asia within 30 miles of a coastline or major waterway that feeds into the ocean. This waste is then sorted and processed before being used in packaging. The entire process is fully traceable with a robust documented chain of accountability.

https://www.aldi.co.uk

Sainsbury’s launches first store with fully electric delivery fleet

Sainsbury’s Nine Elms London superstore is now using 110% electric delivery vans, providing zero emission deliveries to its customers.

The new 100% electric fleet will make over 2000 deliveries each week on average, saving 57 tonnes of carbon annually.

It's part of the retailer’s commitment to achieving Net Zero in its own operations by 2035.

Sainsbury’s has announced that its Nine Elms London superstore is now delivering to customers using a fully electric fleet. The new electric vans mean customers’ grocery shopping will be delivered with zero emissions.

The Nine Elms delivery fleet consists of 12 vans, with both the vehicle and fridge units now powered by electricity, so they do not emit carbon emissions or dust, dirt, soot, or smoke into the air. This means the 145,000 households in Sainsbury’s Nine Elms delivery area can receive groceries from vehicles which are helping reduce carbon emissions. The new vans will also operate more quietly, helping cut noise pollution.

Sainsbury’s Nine Elms makes over 2,000 deliveries on average, weekly, covering approximately 1,760 miles, so the new 100% electric vans will help save 57 tonnes of carbon every year, whilst contributing to a significant reduction in air pollution in the local area.

The change is part of the retailers’ transition to operating a fully electric fleet in its stores by 2035, in line with its decarbonisation goals. The new fleet will also help Sainsbury’s achieve its commitment to becoming Net Zero in its own operations by 2035.

Patrick Dunne, who is the Director of Property & Procurement at Sainsbury’s said: “We’re always looking at how we can use the latest technology to best serve our customers, whilst also doing the right thing for the planet.

"We’re really thrilled to have launched a fully electric fleet in our Nine Elms superstore and we hope our customers will be delighted to learn their groceries are being delivered with zero emissions, helping reduce the environmental impact of their online shopping. This is just the first step for us, as we have committed to rolling out electric vans across the country to all our stores by 2035.”

This builds on a string of changes the retailer has made to reduce its carbon emissions and energy usage in its own operations. Last year, Sainsbury’s introduced LED lighting across its entire estate, reducing lighting energy consumption by an average of 70%. 

It also announced the launch of Sainsbury’s Innovation Investments, which will see a minimum of £5 million invested over the next four years into start-up businesses commercialising innovative, sustainable technologies that look to reduce operational carbon emissions. Sainsbury’s currently operates with 100% renewable electricity and by the end of 2023 the retailer projects that up to 40% of its electricity will come from new-to-the-planet wind and solar power.

www.sainsburys.co.uk

Sainsbury's opens its most energy-efficient supermarket ever

Sainsbury’s has launched a new green flagship supermarket in Hook, Hampshire, which is projected to use only half the energy of a similar-sized Sainsbury’s store and 25% less electricity than its other most energy-efficient supermarkets.

Combining innovations in construction and engineering to arrive at the design of the new 25,000 sq. ft. supermarket, Sainsbury’s is building on and bringing together an array of energy-saving features that can now be found in other stores across its estate.

A store that is Better for the planet:

Sainsbury’s Hook branch will operate using 100% renewable electricity and won't will rely on any fossil fuels.

It will keep aisles at their optimum temperature using a cold aisle retrieval system, which takes any air that could leave the fridges and displaces it to other areas of the store to keep those aisles cooler. Warm air is then taken from the back of its fridges and re-purposed to heat other sections.

About two-thirds of the energy consumed will be reused by the cold aisle retrieval system.

The store is also part of a new trial that employs doors on chilled cabinets, keeping cold air in and reducing their energy demands by up to 60%. 

Further energy savings have been driven by adding lids on frozen food display cabinets, which work in the same way.

Ambient air door curtains will help to reduce the store’s heating requirements and make customers’ experience more comfortable by counteracting naturally occurring drafts.

The roof features over 700 solar panels, which are expected to provide up to 300 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy for the store annually. 

100% LED lighting has been installed throughout the store, and on the shop floor sensors will enable it to adapt in response to the level of natural daylight so energy won't be wasted.

Sainsbury’s Hook store will contribute to the retailer’s target of becoming water-neutral by 2040 with low-pressure bathroom taps and rainwater harvesting.

The new store will set the standard for future Sainsbury’s Superstores and the retailer will replicate and build on everything that works well from Sainsbury’s Hook store in any new supermarkets it constructs, plus retrofitting its existing estate with the technology wherever possible.

Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s Property Director, said: “I’m immensely proud of everyone at Sainsbury’s who have helped deliver what is a ground-breaking new store for us, the learning from which will be used in future store investments. Sainsbury’s Hook is the culmination of many years of innovation, hard work and progress towards a more sustainable future for our business.

“I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the local community for their support and patience whilst we constructed this store, I hope everyone will agree it was worth the wait, not only for the new offer customers can now enjoy but for the progress in store sustainability it represents.”

Ryan Cox, Sainsbury’s Hook Store Manager said: “We've thoroughly enjoyed welcoming customers through the doors of our brand-new store and we look forward to getting to know many of them as we become an integral part of the local community.

“This is a really proud moment for Sainsbury’s as we launch a brilliant new supermarket that puts our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment into sharp focus while serving and helping customers in Hook.”

Ranil Jayawardena, MP for North East Hampshire, said: “I was delighted to open Sainsbury’s newest store today, representing a significant investment into my home village of Hook, and the creation of over 100 new jobs for local people. 

"The new store will provide a healthy boost to customer choice in the area and the fact that it is the most environmentally sound, energy-efficient store Sainsbury’s has ever opened makes it a special addition to the community here.”

Sainsbury’s currently operates with 100% renewable electricity and by the end of 2023 the retailer projects that up to 40% of its electricity will come from new-to-the-planet wind and solar power. The improvements in the store’s efficient energy design are part of Sainsbury’s wider commitment to becoming Net Zero in its own operations by 2035.

Sainsbury’s Hook represents a brand-new shopping destination for customers in northern Hampshire, offering greater choice, quality and value, with thousands of products available to choose from.

Alongside its extensive food offer, Sainsbury’s Hook will offer:

A selection of Sainsbury’s iconic Habitat range, selling modern classics for the home

Tu clothing for all the family via Click & Collect, as well as a stylish beauty proposition

An Argos store inside the supermarket

The store will be an active member of Sainsbury’s Food Donation Programme via Neighbourly, which works to reduce the amount of food waste within its operations and redistribute surplus food to those who need it most.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk.