Since launching Pasta Evangelists in 2016, we've strived to interact responsibly with the world around us, with a strong ethos surrounding environmental consciousness and sustainability. Abiding by the principles of resourcefulness and simplicity at the heart of the Italian food tradition, we operate on a “reduce, reuse, recycle” model. As consumers show an increasing awareness surrounding the sustainability of the products they purchase, we want to take the opportunity - on Earth Day, no less - to share with you some of the ways we as a business are working towards a greener future.
Reduce
“Reducing” begins with food waste, a matter at the centre of our sustainability journey. While developing the concept for his fresh pasta business, our founder Alessandro was shocked to discover that over 80% of food is wasted in a typical fine dining restaurant. Our pre-order model, predictive technology and pre-portioned product means we only order what we need, ensuring our food wastage is minimal.
And dishes we do not sell are, thankfully, not destined for landfill - we’re working with The Felix Project London to redistribute our food waste to their network of local charities and schools, that provide food support to vulnerable people. Furthermore, The Felix Project’s work seeks to offset some of the 2 million tonnes of food waste produced by the food industry every year in the UK, and in turn reduce the greenhouse gas emissions this waste emits.
Reuse
As a subscription service, “reuse” is a fundamental aspect of our business model. We are committed to offering a more planet-minded service through our take-back scheme. What does this entail? Customers looking to dispose of their packaging responsibly can get in touch with our helpful customer service team via chef@pastaevangelists.com, and they will be happy to send a free postage label to return packaging and ice-packs to us for reuse. Otherwise, we recommend saving your eco-friendly gel ice packs - these certainly come in handy for summer picnics and packed lunches!
Recycle
From the offset, we as a business aimed to introduce recyclable packaging. 100% of our packaging is now recyclable or compostable, and we obtain sustainably-sourced by-products or recycled materials to create our packaging where we can. For instance, the insulation we provide in our UK boxes is made of 100% compostable repurposed natural wool that would otherwise have been a waste product of the fashion industry.
Can we do more?
We strongly believe the best way to achieve our goal of creating a fully sustainable business is through transparency - while we’re proud of the changes we have implemented thus far in this journey, we’ll be the first to admit we aren’t there just yet. For instance, our current goal in our ongoing quest for sustainability is to achieve packaging that is 100% non-plastic by 2021.
We’re committed to these vital changes, and always welcome questions and ideas on the topic of sustainability - your feedback is a vital key to furthering our goal. Please send your queries and feedback to sustainability@pastaevangelists.com.
The Felix Project is a registered charity in the UK: Registered Charity No. 1168183