Doing good stuff has been baked into what we do at warburtons since we started baking back in 1876.
We pride ourselves on doing the right thing, for our people, our communities and our planet.
We’re more aware than ever of the risks the world faces and the opportunities we have to make a difference. From the climate crisis to health inequality, the world is experiencing more pressures that directly affect the people and things that we care about.
We can do something about this. As a responsible family business, we want to be part of the solution. Not to make things a little less bad, but to have a positive, measurable difference.
Building on all that we have achieved so far, our approach to being a responsible business aims to support healthier lives and a healthier planet throughout everything we do – baking more good stuff in from tractor to toaster.
our responsible business plan reflects our priorities as a business – our people, our farmers, our customers and our consumers.
As a fifth-generation family business, we believe we can make a difference and have set out four areas in which we can have the most impact for the long term: Acting for Climate, Farming for Nature, Baking for Health and Caring for Communities.
In the UK, 35% of greenhouse gases (GHG) are caused by the food system, so as Britain’s largest bakery brand, we can really make a difference.
We have, in line with the UK, committed to being net zero by 2050 by making deep reductions in GHG emissions. To help reach this goal, we have mapped our entire carbon footprint from tractor to toaster. This has helped us to identify the changes we can make to decarbonise throughout both our own operations and our supply chain. We have already taken steps to reduce emissions in our own operations through a variety of initiatives including the use of alternative fuels in our fleet and by generating our own energy through solar and wind power.
We also need to play our part in reducing waste – proud to be zero food waste to landfill since 2015, we need to look at how we can reduce waste elsewhere. From continuing to ensure every product that can be eaten is redistributed and minimising our packaging, to recycling and reusing other finite resources.
The quality of our products starts with the quality of our wheat. It is our most important ingredient.
We recognise that as a food business, we have both the responsibility and the opportunity to support farming systems that protect and restore nature. We are proud of the strong relationships we have built with our farmers in both the UK and Canada and today, we contract grow more British and Canadian wheat than any other branded food business in the UK.
We are working in partnership with our farmers to support their sustainable farming practices to ensure we can create healthier soils, greater biodiversity, and continue the good practice already happening. We are also working with our suppliers, and our partners to source our goods and ingredients in a responsible manner, to ultimately secure the future of the bread we bake every day.
As a family business which has been baking since 1876, we’re deeply committed to providing high-quality, nutritious food that families trust. Bakery products, as starchy carbohydrates, are an important part of a healthy and balanced diet and as the UK’s most chosen grocery brand, we can play a powerful role in shaping healthier diets.
Many people in the UK face challenges related to diet quality, including low intake of fibre and wholegrains, and higher consumption of fats, salt and sugar. By making thoughtful choices about our ingredients, innovating and reformulating products we can help shape a future where nutritious food is affordable, accessible and enjoyable for all.
As the Nation’s fibre provider, we contribute more fibre to the nation’s diet than any other food brand and are proud that almost 50% of our range is a source of, or high in, fibre, and over 70% of our products are a source of, or high in, protein. We are committed to investing in product innovation which helps our consumers make simple, healthier choices without sacrificing taste or enjoyment.
As a fifth-generation family business, there is nothing more important to us than our people and our communities.
We wouldn’t be the business we are today without our family of 5,000 colleagues who work across our bakeries and distribution hubs. We want to ensure what is best for them which is why we place great focus on their health & wellbeing through our LiveWell programme.
We have supported the communities we are part of across the UK since we started baking back in 1876. Through the Warburtons Foundation, we provide support to schools, charities and community organisations through educational resources, product donation and financial giving, to help build stronger, more resilient communities and create lasting, positive impact for families. For example, through our partnership with Magic Breakfast, an organisation dedicated to ending child morning hunger as a barrier to learning, we have provided over 5 million breakfasts to over 300,000 children and young people since 2022. And in the last 12 months alone we have supported 293 organisations and charities with nearly half a million pounds of financial support.
If you’d like to learn more about how we’re working towards our ambitious targets, visit our Responsible Business Updates page using the link below.
