Neal's Yard Remedies: pioneers of natural beauty and health
Neal’s Yard Remedies: pioneers of natural beauty and health, looking to change the world one blue bottle at a time.
With their range inspired by and filled with high quality organic plant-based ingredients, it’s only natural that Neal’s Yard Remedies care deeply about the environment. And that passion is shown in everything they do – from the ingredients they source to the 100% renewable electricity that powers their eco factory and UK stores.
We recently went to their headquarters and factory in Peacemarsh, Dorset; and met Head of Sustainability, Lou; and Campaign Project Manager, Dom to find out more.
On arriving at the eco factory, we were greeted by singing birds, buzzing bees and an entire site that quite literally smells of roses. Even the bins.
The factory stands proud in the centre of the site – one half of it covered in a living green wall, and its roof clad in solar panels.
It’s here that they manufacture and fill 90% of the products that they sell across hundreds of stores in 23 different countries.
Surrounding the factory is five acres of botanical gardens, where they organically grow some of the herbs and plants for their tinctures and famous blue bottles; as well as salads to nourish the team in the canteen.
Renewable energy at Neal’s Yard Remedies
A customer since November 2016, we asked Lou and Dom what motivated them to choose Good Energy.
“We were inspired to find another company that had similar values, and we were keen to work with a British supplier of energy.” Lou told us.
For us, it’s about using the cleanest energy that we can. It fits in with our desire to have a positive effect in everything that we do.
With 90kW of solar panels installed on the roof of the eco factory, Neal’s Yard Remedies generate around 5% of the needs of their Peacemarsh operations. Dom told us how much they enjoy using Good Energy’s Selectricity platform to get a feel for where the rest of their energy comes from – and have made it a key part of their project to engage staff about energy efficiency.
“We have zonal energy displays around our buildings showing monthly energy usage. This allows us to encourage staff, by showing them that their efforts on energy reduction really do have an impact; as well as showing them which local generators our energy is matching with.”
A positive impact in everything they do
Choosing to be powered by renewable energy is just one of the ways in which Neal’s Yard Remedies aims to have a positive impact.
Neal’s Yard Remedies are independently certified through some of the world’s leading environmental and ethical schemes, including Soil Association Organic, Ecocert Fair for Life, CarbonNeutral® and Cruelty Free International – to name a few.
They source their ingredients, always choosing organically and fairly traded where available, from countries including Uganda, Madagascar, Turkey, and right here in the UK; having a benefit on the environment as well as farmers and growers around the world.
Packaging is carefully considered too: their glass bottles are fully recyclable, plastic bottles are made from 100% recycled plastic; and their gift boxes and product cartons are certified Carbon Balanced with the World Land Trust.
As Lou put it: “Every single choice that we make, we are trying to use the power we have as a commercial entity to help shape a better future. That really is our authenticity and that’s why people come back to us year after year.”
