Finalists announced for Sustainability Initiative of the Year 2025

A pair of regenerative flour brands, a duo of plastic eliminating suppliers, and a retail chain sharing its surplus make up the finalists for Sustainability Initiative of the Year 2025.

Sponsored by Macphie, the category seeks out companies that demonstrate the most impressive sustainability achievements over the past year, including changes in operations, staff buy-in and training, and how it was communicated to customers.

Come meet the projects and the companies behind them that are vying to take home the trophy at the 2025 Baking Industry Awards:

Regenerative flour range, Eurostar Commodities

The Yorkshire-based ingredients supplier rolled out its new line of 100% British regenerative flours in February, which it said had been developed specifically for bakers looking to set a new standard for sustainability and quality.

The Rise Re:Gen range is farmed in collaboration with The Green Farm Collective (GFC), a group of British farmers dedicated to regenerative principles that help restore soil health, enhance biodiversity, and sequester carbon.

Eurostar claims to have been astounded by the response from bakery manufacturers since the range was launched, with interest and volume sales far exceeding expectations. It plans to extend beyond the initial two variants – Strong White Flour and All Purpose Flour – and work on new strategic partnerships as well as recruiting more farmers to the GFC.

Judges warmly welcomed the decision by Eurostar, an established business with over 30 years of trading ingredients, to enter the niche regen flour market. “They’re trying to utilise their experience and knowledge in the industry to grow this net of regenerative farmers,” noted one judge.

Sharing surplus food, Gail’s

High street chain Gail’s recognised it was always going to have food leftover at the end of the day and wanted to make sure this was shared with people who need it most in the communities and neighbourhoods around its bakeries.

It does this through a partnership with Neighbourly, which helps collect and redistribute surplus products to a network of over 320 charitable organisations nationwide. Annual stats for the initiative have it at more than 1,000 tonnes of CO₂ saved and over one million items donated, a figure expected to reach 1.5m by next year.

In addition, between two and four bags of unsold food from each Gail’s shop are offered daily via the Too Good To Go app, with generated funds ringfenced for a new charitable initiative launching this summer that will help fight food poverty among school children.

The notion of ‘sustainability being in the DNA of the brand’ was well received by judges, who were pleased by the considerable amount of food being saved from waste. “They’ve absolutely delivered what they’ve set out to do, but they still don’t feel like its enough and want to do even more,” a judge enthused.

Plastic waste reduction, Prowrap

Bristol-based food wrapping supplier Prowrap says it has taken a holistic approach on its Speedwrap Pro dispensers and refill rolls to ensure they have minimal environmental impact throughout its entire life cycle.

This includes removing plastic adapters, utilising 100% recycled aluminium foil, and having baking parchment rolls that are fully biodegradable and compostable. Moreover, the raw material for baking parchment is grown in controlled, sustainably-managed European forests.

Prowrap has also implemented its own national dispenser recycling scheme, which involves a collaboration with its injection moulding partner to collect old or broken dispensers from customers, reuse parts across the Speedwrap Pro range, and recycle as much of the materials as possible. Over 250 dispensers have already been saved from landfill, exceeding its goal of 200, while moving their production from China to the UK has helped save at least 8.7 tonnes of CO₂ annually.

Despite having a relatively small workforce, the company recently hired Ben Creeth as marketing and sustainability analyst, a move appreciated by judges. They particularly liked when he said Prowrap was trying to find points of difference in a sector not known for being green. “They are certainly looking at the right things,” commented a judge.

Plastic trayless packaging, The Compleat Food Group

With approximately 200m pork pies produced by The Compleat Food Group annually across various brands, its initiative to remove plastic trays from packaging eliminates as much as 110 tonnes of plastic over the course of a year as well as cutting CO₂ emissions by 430 tonnes.

To bring about this move, the company invested in advanced automation – featuring eight robotic arms – in early 2024 at its Tottle bakery site in Nottingham, which helped maintain high production speeds without the stabilising support of trays. This not only reduced plastic by 75% per pack but also delivered cost efficiencies for customers and simplified packaging disposal for consumers, it said.

Compleat has since rolled out trayless packaging for pastry slices made at its Poole site, removing a further 10 tonnes of plastic annually. It plans to replicate the process at its other UK factories. The company noted the initiative aligns closely with its long-term sustainability goals including its ambition of achieving net zero across its value chain by 2040, as well as its commitments as a signatory to WRAP’s UK Plastics Pact.

Judges respected Compleat’s perseverance towards completing the project, which they noted had not sounded easy. They also liked how the firm had chosen to make the significant investment themselves rather than via demand from retailers and consumers. “That’s commendable,” expressed a judge.

Regen flour brand and product launch, Wildfarmed

Wildfarmed hasn’t rested on its regeneratively farmed laurels since winning the category two years ago.

In May 2024, it launched its first branded bread range at Waitrose supported by a national campaign that also helped raise awareness of regenerative agriculture. With its Seeded Sourdough becoming a £1m line, distribution of the range has been extended this year to Ocado and Tesco, where the brand has joined the latest Accelerator Programme. Plans are afoot to expand the product range and increase distribution.

Wildfarmed reported that consumers are now increasingly seeking confidence in product origins and simple ways to contribute to climate action, along with healthy bread options. Its bread range built on its successful ingredients business, which incorporated over 150 wheat growers and more than 1,000 business partners like M&S, Greggs, Higgidy, Simply Lunch, Speciality Breads, Brakes, and Franco Manca.

This year, it has teamed up with academic and commercial organisations such as AgriSound, the University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, Nature Metrics, and Chirrup.ai to measure the biodiversity, carbon, and water health of its fields. Results so far include a 3.7x increase in bee populations and 80% rise in plant diversity.

The main focus of Wildfarmed being on increasing regenerative farming practices and promoting its benefits across the industry and to consumers was something that resonated with judges. “They are living it and breathing it,” said one judge, while another thought it had “made progress in leaps and bounds” over the past 12 months.

Join us for a night of celebration

The winners will be revealed at a black-tie ceremony on Thursday 23 October 2025 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, hosted by a yet-to-be-revealed celebrity guest.

Tickets for the awards are available now via the Baking Industry Awards website. Individual tickets cost £350+VAT and a table of 10 costs £3,325+VAT.

The event includes a dazzling drinks reception, a three-course dinner with wine and coffee, and an afterparty complete with snacks and entertainment to help you celebrate into the early morning.

Get your tickets here: https://bakeryawards.co.uk/live/en/page/attend