Glebe Farm Foods reduces food miles
Glebe Farm Foods to package oat drinks at Cambridgeshire farm with new Tetra Pak facility
Glebe Farm Foods, the British producer of award-wining oat drink, PureOaty, is making a multi-million-pound investment. This will bring its entire production process on one site for the first time, where the teams also grows and mills the oats.
PureOaty will be the only British oat drink fully produced on a single site in the UK. Thanks to a new Tetra Pak filling line. This will further reduce the product’s food miles to just 300 meters between milling and packaging.
The independently run business, led by Rebecca and Philip Rayner, expects the cutting-edge packaging plant to open in August. With the capacity to pack 10,000 liters per hour, it will produce fully sterile packs for 12-month ambient storage in both 1L and 500ml packs.
The plant will introduce tethered caps across all the brand’s packs. These innovative caps stay attached to the carton to make recycling easier and reduce litter – further amplifying Glebe Farm Foods’ commitment to sustainability.
The facility will enable the business to co-pack for other manufacturers or retailers for the first time. Thereby generating an increase in capability in the UK plant-based co-packing sector.
Philip Rayner, Co-owner and Managing Director of Glebe Farm Foods, said:
“Our new plant is an investment in meeting a growing demand for oat drinks as part of a plant-based diet. We know that more and more people in the UK want to know where their food and drink comes from. Our oats are 100 percent sown, grown and milled in the UK. We’re proud to say that our drinks will leave our Cambridgeshire farm ready to be enjoyed.
“Not only will our new facility enable us to produce in greater quantity, but also more sustainably. Our drinks will have the lowest food miles of any oat drink brand in the UK. The initiation to use the new tethered caps will boost the recyclability of our packaging.”
Awantika Chadha, Sustainability Manager at Tetra Pak, said:
“Decarbonizing food systems is a key priority for Tetra Pak and Glebe Farm Foods. Furthermore, taking steps to move packaging onsite will help minimize the food miles travelled in production. Our technologies and packaging innovations will help Glebe Farm to improve efficiencies and reduce the business’ impact on the environment.”