Three years on…

Autumn update

In 2023, our Lars & Margo black bags were certified Climate Neutral. Produced using recycled Japanese paper, the tactile quality is subtly satisfying and we continue to import them from our neighbours in Europe. We still seek a better packaging (from a climate awareness perspective) so this is continually under review. Will this mean a goodbye to the Lars & Margo black bag? Possibly. It’s a small price to pay however for a climate friendlier future. Our labels, following a redesign by Plymouth based graphics designer Nick Dell’Anno - 17miles away, were originally printed locally, at Root, Launceston 15.2 miles away. We are now looking to work with another Cornwall based printer, Citrus Print who is able to provide our smaller runs on multiples more easily. They also outsource from Yorkshire, UK.

This year we switched to using minimal packaging - we now simply add a handwritten postcard or printed newsletter (for our subscribers) for our customer orders. Previously we used wood shavings from our local wood carver and also recycled tissue. Our small brown gift boxes are recyclable, home compostable, vegan and made with 62% post consumer waste. They are also ph neutral. We use compostable brown tape. We collect our larger boxes from Derriford Hospital, Plymouth and reuse them for posting/dropping off larger retail orders. Our postcards and business cards are made from recycled paper or t-shirts.

This year we are encouraging our southwest cafes to take our freshly roasted coffee in 5 litre unused paint tins, which we then swap over. Now, some months in, we can see this hasn’t worked as well as we had hoped - logistics of transportation (we have highlighted a need for our clients to come to the roastery and refill) and storage space (required by our clients) - a small percentage are still very keen to continue. We continue to encourage customers to visit the Roastery, bringing their own containers where they are rewarded with a 10% discount, helping household budgets within our communities and reducing the need for packaging which can currently only go to landfill.

The hessian sacks, that our green beans arrive in, we sell (rather than dismissing as having no purpose) and encourage reusing for many purposes - Lars & Margo grow vegetables (which we offer to our customers for free) and we create and sell draught excluders to hinder heat loss in our customer’s homes - we purchase the waste product ‘noil’ for stuffing, from our local wool mill, The Natural Fibre Company.

Our grain pro sacks are reused to line the hessian sacks for growing vegetables.

Our coffee chaff is given away for free to our customers to add to their compost - brassicas love the nitrogen!

We try to follow our ethos in only using and likewise taking what we need; we believe in buying in small quantities, be it green beans or ceramics from our potters.

In June 2023 we joined with Hoffman Haulage - carbon free transport solution for Cornwall and on so many levels we haven’t looked back. Efficient and incredibly affordable, using renewable electricity to power their vehicles. This has allowed us more time to focus on other areas of the business - previously taken driving around Cornwall (and Devon) on a mission to drop off larger orders to our clients. The outcomes are a smoother running business, a healthier work life balance and likewise a ‘getting there’ clearer conscience on our carbon footprint. For the days we deliver over the border to Devon we take on as many drop offs on the route as we can (including on our way to and from our weekly markets). We continue to use Royal Mail and Parcelforce for online orders.

We recently owned two large family diesel cars, one of those being a 4x4. Since we launched Lars & Margo we felt a need to change to a smaller petrol car and an E bike. The E-bike however has also moved onto a new owner as it wasn’t really fit for purpose. No further plans in this area at this stage.

Since the launch of Lars & Margo, we have looked into the possibilities of importing our coffee by sail. This is still an area of interest and we are again in the early stages of conversation with Cornwall based importers New Dawn Traders who we have welcomed to our L&M HQ on a couple pf occasions.

We have more climate awareness plans falling into place…we shall share with you as they unfold - your support is always appreciated and needed - watch this beautiful space.