Belazu’s Steps Across Fleet, Farming, and Food Education
Maddy Lagneau - Operations and Marketing Manager
Belazu's commitment to doing business the right way, balancing purpose and profit, has driven ambitious programs across transport, community engagement, and sustainable sourcing, all while deepening their positive environmental and social impact. We spoke to Ruby Harlow, Sustainability & Foundation Manager at Belazu, about their steps to B Corp Recertification and the initiatives they have been working on.
B Corp Recertification
Since becoming a certified B Corp in 2021, Belazu has continued to build on its social and environmental performance. “Doing the right thing by people and the planet has always been woven into Belazu's business goals from the beginning.”
Three years later, that commitment is paying off with a 10% increase in their B Corp score. Key actions included protecting the London Living Wage, investing in fleet decarbonisation, and becoming ISO50001 accredited for energy management.
The upcoming changes to B Corp standards, which raise the bar further, are not seen as a challenge but as a motivator. “We have working groups and committees at Belazu which bring together stakeholders right the way through the business to achieve projects and better working practice on all areas of our operations, supply chain and community.”
Fleet Decarbonisation
Back in 2020, transport emissions made up around a third of Belazu’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Determined to tackle this challenge head-on, the company’s Transport Manager, Cris, developed a "Fleet Roadmap to 2030" to transition away from diesel.
"We have managed to transition our fleet of commercial vans and articulated lorries from being fuelled by diesel to being completely fuelled by hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO). We've also invested in four electric vans (EVs). The true cost of the switch has actually been cost-neutral due to the savings in lease costs, fuel costs and London congestion charge exemptions. HVO hasn't required any modifications to the vehicles, just a simple switch in fuel... and the introduction of EVs has exceeded our expectations. There is also now a sense of pride among our team as they're driving a zero-emissions vehicle and doing their job in a more sustainable way.”
Reducing the impact of the transport emissions by ~91% so far, Belazu’s advice to others is clear: start small, build confidence, and keep pushing.
Sustainable Sourcing
Belazu's long-term supplier relationships, some stretching nearly 30 years, are built on trust and innovation. A standout example is their olive oil producer, Eduard Pons, a fourth-generation farmer in Catalunya. He has pioneered sustainable farming methods, including a trialling over 200 varieties of olive to produce an olive variety that requires less water and makes it more resilient to the changes in climate, such as drought. Eduard grows organically, avoiding artificial inputs such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, which can have negative impacts to planetary and human health. Instead, Eduard focuses on soil health by planting cover crops in the olive groves, such as nitrogen-fixing grasses, introduces organic matter back into the soil from olive branches and leaves, and has introduced bats to control insect populations. He has also invested in a state-of-the-art mill, which reduces the time between picking and pressing the olives for oil extraction to less than two hours, also reducing on-farm food miles and maximising the polyphenol health benefits of the oil. The mill is powered, 90% by renewable energy, including solar and from the burning of waste olive pits, separated from the pomace during the extraction process.
For Belazu, the future of food lies in working with their suppliers to champion soil health through better farming practices such as regenerative or organic farming.
“We are seeing a huge shift within the food industry to include farmers within the conversation... Businesses like Wildfarmed have done an amazing job at educating on regenerative farming practices and ultimately making farming cool!”
Fresh Enterprise Programme
The Belazu Foundation was established in 2003 to give back to communities in Belazu's local area and throughout their supply chain, to promote education, healthy eating, and inspire future generations. In partnership with School Food Matters, we launched the Fresh Enterprise programme in 2018, which is now in its seventh year. The programme invites schools from the local community to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the production factory and meet members of the team for a Q&A on career paths within a food business.
The initiative gives local schoolchildren, many from underrepresented communities, a hands-on taste of the food industry. “The highlight of my year!” Ruby describes.
“We hope the initiative gives them a flavour of product development... and meeting a customer’s needs,” they added. One memorable creation? Blushing Beets by Whitefield School—a vibrant beetroot paste with a kick, born from culinary creativity and community inspiration.
