The Chuckling Goat Story: Healing, Holding and Hoping

“Our goal is to leave things better than we found them”. (Shann Nix-Jones, MBE) The mid Wales town of Llandysul, population circa 1300, is the home of the 2022 World Dairy Awards winner of the Best Probiotic Dairy, Chuckling Goat.…

Butternut Box: Pet Health Meets B-Corp Impact

“The only way to be successful for the long haul is by doing business in a way that considers the needs of all our partpners – our customers, our squad, our communities and, of course, our environment” (Butternut Box). Butternut…

Ella’s Kitchen and Paul Lindley : A Recipe for Ethical Business and Social Impact

“Here at Ella’s Kitchen we try really hard to be good in sense – not just through the good food we make but also by doing good stuff for our environment and giving stuff back to our local communities” (Paul…

Green Chef and HelloFresh: Pioneering a Sustainable Future in the Meal Kit Industry

“Changing the way people eat is an ambitious goal and one that can only be achieved with smart, innovative, and driven people”.  (Laurent Guillemain, CEO of HelloFresh). Between 2004 and 2010 Colorado-based Michael Joseph, an Economics Theory graduate of the…

Rice Inc: Empowering Farmers, Transforming the Rice Industry

“The very people growing rice are the ones left behind by the industry and society" (Lincoln Lee) It is not just in the rice production sector that the planet and its people are exploited. In the drive to make as…

Sustainable Seas: The Story of Câr-y-Môr’s Innovative Ocean Farming

“Many are concerned that modern farming practices are reducing our farming land’s productivity and ecosystem health. Creating a sustainable future is a core part of Câr-y-Môr’s aim" (Owen Haines, co-founder Câr-y-Môr [Love of the Sea]) Câr-y-Môr is a Community Benefit…

The Belazu Ingredient Company: Where Passion Meets Purpose

“We don’t always want to be about the bottom line" - George Bennell Founded in 1991 as The Fresh Olive Company, Belazu, a Chef-grade Ingredient company, is the brainchild of two lifelong school friends, George Bennell and Adam Wells. On…

Sausage rolls and social goals – Greggs Winning Hearts

As a modern business, it is our duty to stand for more than just profit...We're dedicated to helping people, protecting the planet and working together - Greggs. Greggs is a national UK bakery retail business that had, in 2023, a…

Seeds of Change: The Micro Greengrocer Cultivating Community & Sustainability

“I had a yearning to do something completely different with my skill base, something more holistic and community-focused" -Amanda Wood For Amanda Wood, the COVID-19 pandemic was life-changing. Prior to its outbreak in 2020, she was working as a programme…

Oasis Cardiff: Championing Entrepreneurial Spirit for Refugees in Wales

“I wanted people to have a safe space where they could come and tell stories and where they could integrate into the wider community’ - Reynette Roberts Oasis Cardiff aims to facilitate the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into…

Oddbox: Transforming Waste into Food Wellness

“I knew my startup idea couldn’t just be another commercial money spinning operation…It also  had to in some way help people and also a cause that was far bigger than me” (Deepak Ravindran) In 2016, Deepak Ravindran, an MBA graduate,…

Zero Waste, Maximum Taste: The Fuel Hub’s Journey to Revolutionise Healthy Eating

“Our focus is on running a company that operates on a completely zero food waste model. Sustainability sits at the core of everything that we do…” (Michelle Laithwaite) The Fuel Hub is an online premium meal preparation business that delivers…

Cultivating the Future: Kindling Farm’s Vision for Sustainable, Community-Led Agriculture

“The world needs new  models of agriculture: farms that are of course productive but also sustainable for many centuries to come; that are resilient—able to adjust to climate change, that are people-friendly, offering plenty of good jobs and supporting local…

Our bilingual celebratory ‘Welsh Harmonious Treasures’ booklet

To celebrate UWTSD's Sustainability Week 2023, David and I have gathered together the selection of 10 Welsh Harmonious Treasures we showcased during our ‘Food Pirates’ Adventures at Lampeter Food Fest 2023, a joyful collaboration with Associate Professor Luci Attala and Professor…

Bee1’s Trailblazing Path Fostering Climate Awareness in School

"At Bee1, we believe that the most sustainable solutions arise at the intersection of education, innovation, and social responsibility." - Bee1 Mark Douglas, former Director of NatWest Bank across Wales and the Chairman/Founder of NatWest Cymru, transitioned from shaping a…

Watson & Pratt’s: where shopping is social & produce is local

“We believe in supporting a form of agriculture which will ensure our, and future, generations will have choice and opportunity…” Lucy Watson and Ben Pratt Lampeter, a small university market town in mid-Wales, has a history of sustainable organic food…

Deri Reed’s Culinary Journey for Community and Planet

“I always work with as many local producers as I can to source local, seasonal and organic produce. I am proud to call these suppliers my friends and love the opportunity to create exciting dishes with them” - Deri Reed…

Tir Glas: A Sustainable Haven for Bees

“Welsh bees have evolved over millions of years to survive and prosper in our fickle climate. If nature has decreed Welsh bees suitable for our country, then why go against it?” - Peter Jenkins, Lampeter Beekeeper Increasingly universities are being…

Nature Friendly Farming, Esgairllaethdy Farm, Myddfai

“Producing high quality food, looking after the environment, managing air and water quality, enhancing biodiversity and wildlife and taking care of our most valuable asset -SOIL – is what we as  farmers should be doing. We are on this planet…

Food Fest Ahoy! Charting the Course of Sustainable Food Innovation

We are thrilled to collaborate with UNESCO-BRIDGES UK Hub on an exciting event at Lampeter’s Food Fest (Gŵyl Fwyd Llanbed) on Saturday 29th July 2023. Between 1-4pm, join us on an epic adventure in the historic Old Hall at the University…

Loch Fyne Oysters: Empowering Communities, Restoring Oyster Waters

“Johnny’s contribution to the Cairndow area transformed it from a place with few jobs, a dwindling population and little ambition to a thriving, forward thinking community” (Virginia Sumsion, Johnny Noble’s niece). Loch Fyne is a Scottish sea loch or lake…

Reviving Rural Economies: The Inspiring Story of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association

“We have to think big. Who would have thought 20 years ago we'd have got where we are now". (Dr. Matthew O'Callaghan, OBE) In 2015, food historian Dr Matthew O’Callaghan, Chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, was awarded…

Divine Chocolate that empowers

“We need a future for cocoa farming which is sustainable- not just for chocolate companies and chocolate lovers but for the people growing the crop” (Sophi Tranchell, MBE, Group CEO Divine Chocolate UK, 1999-2020) Each year, some $100 billion is…

Rodda’s clotted cream cultivates community spirit and charity

Cornish Clotted Cream – the food of the Gods (former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, 1809-1898) In the UK, according to the 1935 Goodheart, Sigler and Hoffman song “everything stops for tea” but not only that - on the last…

Zero Carbon Guildford

“We aim to build a strong resilient community that can cope with the challenges of a rapidly changing planet” - ZERO Carbon Guildford. On  21st November 2021, Zero Carbon Guildford was opened in the centre of Guildford, a university town…

OLIO, the app driving a food share revolution

"The problem is much worse than we think. We have to wake up" - Dr. Monika van den Bos Verma of  Wageningen University, Netherlands Food waste is one of the major global sustainability problems.  According to the UN Food and…

Rosario Garden Project: urban regeneration seeds hope

“The best way to help a community is to give it the faith and knowledge to help itself” - New Scientist, 2nd August, 1962 Rosario, estimated population 1.7 million, is located 300kms (186 miles) North West of Buenos Aires, Argentina.…

Ocean Ag startup ALORA unveils ‘the most salt-tolerant terrestrial plants on the planet’

“I would encourage every person, from every age, every colour, religion, gender, location to ask themselves ‘why you are here? Why do you exist?’ It is so important to know the answer to that question”. (Luke Young) Luke’s answer to…

Welsh Luxury Hamper Co. showcasing local businesses

In 2019 20-year-old Abigail Chamberlain of Chepstow founded the Welsh Luxury Hamper Company Ltd. to showcase the quality products on offer in Wales. Because of her dyslexia, Abigail left university where she was studying music and enrolled on a different…

BoomGrow – saving the planet one vegetable at a time

BoomGrow is an award-winning Malaysian farming company whose mission is to transform farming by producing 100 per cent clean and nutritious vegetables delivered directly to the consumer. It is located in Kuala Lumpur in the Klang Valley and was founded…

Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd. and Parc y Bocs

"I want to see people feeling that they're proud of working for [Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd] and [for them to] put that bit extra in, in terms of the activities we're engaged in" - John Burns In the heart of rural…

“He was a wise man who invented beer” (Plato, 427-347 BC).

Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world. Its origin dates back some 5000 years, possibly more, and by 2018 188.79 million kilolitres were being consumed, the equivalent of approximately 298.2 billion bottles. However,…

The Gyapa Cookstoves Project

It is estimated that in the developing economies some 3 billion people cook their food on open fires, using solid fuel, usually wood. Apart from polluting the atmosphere, the smoke from the fires kills an estimated 3 million people, mainly…

“Waste not want not” (1772, idiom) or “wilful waste makes woeful want” (1576, idom)

For two student entrepreneurs, Josh Shefner and Claire Friona, long-established idioms are a living reality. Both are students of Engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering, and both are passionate about poverty elimination and the eradication of waste. They are also…

Latika Golyan demonstrates the need for graduate entrepreneurs in Nepal

Nepal, population 28.61 million, is a factor-driven economy meaning it relies on its people and natural resources. Over 55% of the population is under the age of 25 and there are some 450,000 students enrolled at different universities in the…

“Oh Food! Magical food! Wonderful Food! Marvellous Food! Beautiful Food!”

Despite Lionel Bart’s “Oliver” eulogy of food, it is a problem. We need it to live, yet both an excess and a shortage can kill us. Some 850 million people, globally, are believed to be undernourished and each day an…

Too Good To Go

In 2016, three entrepreneurs from Copenhagen, Leeds and Paris co-founded “Too Good To Go” (http://toogoodtogo.org) a social impact company intended to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12 Sustainable. Consumption and Production, also supporting 13 Climate Action. Globally 1.3 billion…