People Planet Profit is a collaborative project between the Devon Food Partnership and Food Drink Devon. Set up in response to the demand from Devon’s food and drink sector for support to improve their business’ sustainability, the project includes events and resources to share knowledge and best practice.
In 2024, the Devon Food Partnership received funding from the Agri-Food for Net-Zero Network+ to engage local food and drink businesses with sustainable practices. Working closely with the Food Drink Devon Sustainability Working Group and other stakeholders, we designed an event with an accompanying digital booklet to highlight local case studies and support opportunities. The event was called People Planet Profit to reflect the importance of social, environmental, and financial sustainability to businesses.
The event, hosted at Greendale Farm Shop, sold out with 50 local food, drink, and ancillary businesses coming together to learn and share experiences. This revealed the need for further support to enable the sector to become more sustainable. To address this, we have continued to work with the Food Drink Devon Sustainability Working Group to organise and develop further People Planet Profit events and resources on more specific themes including waste & packaging and marketing. Details of these (including useful resources) can be accessed below.
Moving forward, we plan to deliver more events and resources for local food and drink businesses. If you have any ideas or suggestions, or would be interested in collaborating on an event, please get in touch at info@devonfoodpartnership.org.uk. To stay up to date on the project and hear about future events, sign up to the Devon Food Partnership newsletter and follow us on social media – @devonfoodpartnership
Growing a Sustainable Food and Drink Business
September 2024 – Greendale Farm Shop
Funded by the Agri-Food for Net-Zero Network+, this evening event brought together 50 representatives from local food, drink, and related businesses. The event was centred around four case studies from local, inspirational businesses:
- Greendale Farm Shop – a farm shop near Exeter powered by an on-farm anaerobic digestor and committed to local, sustainable food.
- Two Drifters Distillery – producers of carbon negative rum using 100% renewable energy and low carbon packaging and transport.
- Sharpham Dairy – the UK’s first dairy cheesemaker to become a certified B Corp, dedicated to supporting the community and environment.
- Owens Coffee – South Hams based coffee roastery sourcing only organic and fairtrade coffee from ethical estates and using 100% recyclable packaging.
To accompany the event, a digital booklet was produced to capture the insights from these case study businesses and opportunities for food and drink businesses to access support.
Packaging & Waste: Solutions for Sustainable Food and Drink Businesses
January 2025 – Exeter Science Park
This event was dedicated to exploring how food and drink businesses could improve packaging and waste management. Attendees were surprised by much of the information and many felt a follow-up on this topic is needed, especially now Simpler Recycling regulations are in force.
Speakers included:
- “New packaging regulations and better value waste disposal solutions”, Sara Binti-Azizi, Binit
- “Food waste reduction and Simpler Recycling legislation”, Annette Dentith – Principal Waste Manager at Devon County Council
- “What exactly is local and healthy? Food labelling legislation and terminology: know the law”, Sherry Durrant, Heart of the Southwest Trading Standards
- “Choosing to be plastic-free”, Katie Cross, Cake or Death
- “Desperately seeking sustainability: approaching alternative materials”, Jess Magill, Powderkeg
- “Boxway Packaging Groups Sustainability Journey”, Tom Fooks, Boxway Packaging
A summary of key takeaways from the event can be accessed below.
Marketing Sustainability
March 2025 – Exeter Science Park
This event consisted of three interactive workshop sessions led by experts in communications and marketing who shared their knowledge and practical strategies for sustainable marketing.
Workshop sessions included:
- ‘Sustainability as a selling point for your food business’ , Julia Kirby Smith, Better Food Traders
- ‘How to use PR to spotlight your sustainable business and reach the right audience’, Harry Hook, Raw Food and Drink PR
- ‘Focus on digital marketing’, Lisa Lessware, Digital Link
A summary of key takeaways from the event can be accessed below.
Devon County Show 2025
At the Devon County Show 2025 in the new Farmers’ Hub tent, we hosted a panel discussion focused on how consumers can access local food.
Panellists included:
- Greg Parsons, Sharpham Dairy
- Oliver Lee, How Now Dairy
- Harriet Bell, Riverford
If you require any of the above documents in an accessible format, please get in touch at info@devonfoodpartnership.org.uk and we will be happy to provide these.