Shopping Sustainably This Autumn

 I spend my life ruminating on ‘sustainable’ ways to shop, eat and live – I’ve come to the same conclusion that most other people have reached – it’s very hard to do. Within the context of the systems that help run our societies and lives, there’s no such thing as black and white, which makes my brain hurt a bit. I’ve found my solace in learning as much as I can about the topics I care about, and then finding behaviours and decisions that I’m happy to make long term.

I always build my shopping around 'balancing the carcass' – what products do I love that ask less of our farmers, and help them make more of the whole animal? Skewing my habits this way means that I’m eating in good enough balance to know that when I get a ribeye or a bit of back bacon, I’m safe in the knowledge that overall, I’m doing things the right way. With that in mind, this week I’m getting some of our Spring Broth to make a chicken noodle soup with, and a whole chicken to roast and partially shred through it. I always get some sausages (I’ve been hooked on our Somerset Brandy Chipolatas since we launched them in July – they have been in my box most weeks since). I was lucky enough to be invited to the Great Taste Golden Forks Awards 2025 last week, and came away with some samples of the best ingredients made in the country… I’ve bought our smoked mackerel fillets and salmon fillets for an experiment with miso pastes, and if it goes well you might see some very cool new launches coming down the pipeline! The last bits of my basket this week are a topside and pork loin – one of the perks of the job is intermittently brushing up our cooking instructions and testing them out with the Christmas shop open! I’m going to roast the topside until perfectly pink, chill it and slice it thin to go through a bright and spicy Vietnamese beef salad, then the pork loin will be the Sunday roast with all the trimmings and our Apple & Chilli Jelly.

I wanted to highlight a few products that we’ve developed in partnership with our farmers and producers, to help you all shop as sustainably as possible. The first of these are our beef cuts of the week, from everyday and prime steak through to roasting and braising. When we place our orders and our butchers break up carcasses to fulfil them, you reach an inevitable point where some cuts end up plentiful and others are scarce; this is where our 'cuts of the week' come in. By giving our butchers the choice of four equally valuable cuts they can use to fulfil our order, they can use what they have most plentifully– in exchange for this convenience, we can give it to you, the customer, for better value than similar products on site. By working with us and giving supply a bit of slack, we can buy more sustainably and end up with a real win-win.

Another great example of this function and, if I’m honest, the inspiration for our steak cuts of the week is our Catch of the Day. This works in the same way, but utilises the bounty of the market, with broader scope for variety, and gives really good value to you, the customer. It’s always exciting walking through the fridge and seeing what’s arrived in our catch of the day, for example last week there was bright, gorgeous red mullet. We work closely with our fishermen to tweak the variety of fish to make sure we’re likely to get what’s plentiful and give you the best value. In putting this product in your basket, you’d be getting Mackerel from the warmer mid summer waters, Flounders at their Autumn peak, and Coley and Whiting from the chilly waters of November and December.

This is just the start of these changing, seasonal products, but there will be more coming down the track. It’s vital for us to find ways for you to empower our producers directly with the privilege to choose what will be best that day, just like we used to do before supermarkets. We’ve also got some cuts on discount (worked out with our suppliers) to help us toward carcass balance every week and sustainable buying practices on our side. We sell a few too many chicken thighs at the moment (thanks to you guys and Jamie Oliver’s efforts over the past couple of decades!) so chicken breasts are on a short sale in order to rebalance things. This is the kind of sale we run to drive balance, get more value to the farmer from each animal produced, and feed as many people as possible in the most sustainable way.

We have the privilege and responsibility of directing your orders to farming communities producing food in sustainable, traditional ways, and it’s something I’m aware of in my work every day. We have created and continue to maintain a food system that works, and a supply chain that people are proud to be a part of and want to talk openly about the good it does.