Will Bushell, head of dog marketing at Inspired Pet Nutrition, was a recent guest on BBC Radio 5’s Big Green Money Podcast. Hosted by Dragon’s Den panellist, Deborah Meaden, the podcast delved into how some of the UK’s biggest companies are operating in today’s market.
Bushell shared his expertise on how IPN is placing sustainability at the forefront of its business, as the brand continues to put people, pets, and the planet first.
Meaden wanted to find out what it means to be carbon negative?
Bushell: “Being carbon negative is something we are proud of, and we have been working towards that for a while now. As a result of this focus, IPN is the 1st major pet food manufacturer in the UK to be accredited as Carbon Negative for our operations (Scope 1 & 2). In the last 2 years we have reduced these emissions by 20%, by moving to 100% renewable electricity and improving efficiencies in our factories. We then offset the remainder - and enough for all our employees - through choiceful offsetting initiatives.”
What about ingredients/scope 3?
“We have just started a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) with Leeds Beckett University where one of their students will come and implant in our business to analyse the carbon footprint of our full supply chain which will allow us to understand our scope 3 emissions more accurately. By looking into each supplier and each ingredient, we will be able to highlight key areas for improvement and allow us to set a meaningful & measurable target to help us to get to Net Zero for scopes 1, 2 & 3.
“In order to allow consumers to make their own informed choices on whether to buy more sustainable food, our plan is to introduce information on pack displaying the carbon emissions of every one of our products.”
Is meat bad? Is cheap meat better?
“It really is more nuanced than that. Sourcing meat ingredients involves using everything from premium cuts of meat to offcuts and offal, but each supplier will have different sustainability credentials and so we have to look at each ingredient in isolation. Most of the meat that we use, regardless of the type or cut, is a by-product of the human food industry, so it has less of an environmental impact than the equivalent meat in the human food industry. There is nothing wrong with it from a quality point of view, it’s just that pets don’t discriminate as much as humans. They love a bit of offal.”
As the rise of vegan food continues, the BVA (British Veterinary Association) don’t currently endorse it for pets. Meaden sought to find out IPN’s stance on whether a meat-free diet is really the way to go for your pet.
“While veganism is huge in the human world, for our furry friends, it is not recommended as an everyday staple. Our Barking Heads brand, however, does offer ‘Plant-Powered Pooches’ which is a vegetarian dog food that we recommend feeding your pet once or twice a week as a supplement to their usual meaty diet.
“Of course, the welfare of animals that enter the pet food chain is of utmost importance, but IPN mainly uses suppliers from the UK and therefore they have strict guidelines and regulations – meaning that the ingredients are coming from the same farmers and abattoirs as human food. We continue to drive high standards of welfare through supplier contracts and ethical standards that every supplier must stick to. As a way to do more to broaden their appeal and look to the future IPN aim to produce pet food that contains alternatives to meat along the lines of insect proteins which we are currently researching.”
The pet food pioneer pride themselves on their sustainable packaging, 98% of which is recyclable. Meaden wanted to find out what that actually means for pet owners.
“The majority of Harringtons and Wagg products come in paper bags, this packaging is fully recyclable at home. Bulk-buying pet food inevitably contains plastic packaging as it strong enough to hold the weight, but this is recyclable in large supermarkets and council recycling centres.”
To listen to the full podcast visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f5nk
