FROM THE ROOTS UP: REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
INTRODUCTION
At Colman’s, we know just how important soil is – without it, we wouldn’t have the brilliant ingredients that give us our eye-wateringly good mustard, or our refreshingly tangy mint sauce.
Now, more than ever, as we find ourselves in the midst of a climate crisis that’s profoundly impacting our planet, we recognize the urgent need to support the farmers and suppliers we work with, to help them cultivate a more harmonious relationship between agriculture and nature.
That’s where our Regenerative Agriculture project comes in. Our Regenerative Agriculture Principles are agricultural practices focused on delivering positive outcomes in terms of building soil health, increasing farm biodiversity, improving water quality and reducing carbon.
COLMAN’S REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE JOURNEY
We take pride in the way we source our key ingredients like mustard seed and mint leaves from local farmers and have long established relationships with many of them, some of whom have been growing Colman’s ingredients for 5 generations.
They, like us, value the planet. Now, continuing the collaborative spirit we share with our dedicated farmers and suppliers, we’re embarking on a journey together, through a project exploring approaches to support regeneration of our agricultural landscapes from the ground up.
We’re kicking off our four-year programme focusing on mustard seeds and mint leaves. They’re our pair of star ingredients, at the heart of two of our signature full-on flavour condiments. The project will trial the application of regenerative agriculture practices across mustard and mint farms around Norwich and Peterborough, including mustard farms which have supplied Colman’s products for over 200 years.
By bringing together Colman’s, our mustard and mint growers, as well as a handful of technical and academic partners, this project is collaborative in every sense of the word: like-minded, passionate people coming together to pursue a shared goal, to protect and cultivate the sustainable future of the delicious ingredients and farms that put the big flavour into our products.
KEY OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS
To keep us on track, as well as reflect the commitment we have to our vision of a future where agriculture thrives in harmony with nature, we’ve set up some objectives for the programme:
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Decrease the use of fertilizers
- Lower water usage
- Enhance biodiversity (i.e the bugs and the bees) through supporting cover crops
- Increase levels of carbon in the soil
Follow our journey, as we look to cultivate a brighter, greener future from the roots up, so we can all continue to enjoy that classic British full-on flavour, for generations to come.
MEET OUR FARMERS
“As with all farmers, we are facing the challenges of climate change directly on our land. Alongside our English Mustard Growers Group, we’re on the journey with Colman's to integrate regenerative agriculture principles that include strong measurement processes, to improve our yield, improve the soil health, and maintain the flavour of a fantastic product alongside that.” Michael
“To increase our resilience and continue to produce high quality products, we need to work with our climate, which means adapting our practices. This new project with Colman's will enable us to implement regenerative agriculture practices on a wider scale, together with more measurement and analysis from our partnership with NIAB, so we can continue to learn and improve for the future.” David
“We’ve grown mustard seeds for Colmans for over 200 years. The environmental needs are very different now to then. We aim to produce the best mustard seed in the most efficient and environmentally friendly way. With the regenerative project we will strive to continue to improve our production, the environment and our understanding of both.” Greg
To find out more on about Unilever's Renegerative Agricultue Principles
visit: https://www.unilever.com/planet-and-society/protect-and-regenerate-nature/
