The small businesses using rubbish as a revenue stream aren鈥檛 always on the lookout for waste. For Simon Wright, founder of independent drinks company Hawkes, the rubbish found him.
With his successful line of ginger beer already turning a profit, the entrepreneur saw an opportunity. 鈥淲hen I found out about a load of apples that weren鈥檛 being used from community orchards around London, I came up with the idea for Urban Orchard cider.鈥�
With around 200m tonnes (pdf) of waste produced in the UK each year, resourceful small business owners like Wright have found innovative ways to turn the trash into cash. They are helped along by events such as World Environment Day, which has spread public awareness about the need to shop responsibly.
Fiona Humberstone, a branding expert who works with eco-friendly businesses, says consumers are savvier than ever about sustainability. In the 2015 Nielsen Global Sustainability report, 66% of consumers said they were willing to pay more for sustainable brands 鈥� this was up from 55% in 2014 .
Hawkes allows anyone to trade their unwanted fruit for bottles of cider at the company鈥檚 base in Forest Gate, giving Wright a plentiful supply of ingredients (roughly eight tonnes last year, which he intends to double in 2016). These donated apples are blended with premium quality fruit to create a consistent brew each time.
More than 100 apple donors play their part in the cider-making process, each helping to spread the word about Hawkes鈥� products via word of mouth. The company also donates 10% of its profits to eco-focused social enterprises such as Father Nature, which carries out community growing projects, and Cultivate London, an urban farm which trains unemployed young people.
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