Soft drinks firm Marlish Waters has promised its range of drinks flavoured with natural fruit extracts will be made with 100% solar, wind and biomass energy.
The family run brand's Hartburn factory is where its waters, sugar free tonics and mixers are produced and canned. The facility has has undergone investment in technologies to build capacity and efficiency, including new filling technology that means 50% less CO2 is now used in the carbonation of Marlish drinks, along with low voltage lighting, cleaning systems, and better temperature control.
Marlish, which is run by biochemistry graduate Joe Evans and his cousin Elizabeth Warren, said the move in partnership with Go Low Carbon and Pozitive Energy was a step towards becoming fully carbon neutral. The investments come in anticipation of more products due to launch in the next few months.
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Joe Evans, director, and co-founder of Marlish Waters, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be able to announce that all Marlish products are now produced with 100% renewable energy – an ambition of ours since day one.
"Sustainability has always been at the heart of everything we do at Marlish, right from the very beginning. When my cousin Elizabeth and I first discovered the quality of the spring water on our farm back in 2013, we took the decision to build the production factory on site, so that all our products could be produced and packaged at source, to keep our carbon footprint to a minimum.
"And that was just the start. Our sustainable investments over the years have included on-site solar generation, the creation of a wildlife corridor, an extensive tree planting programme and the launch of the UK’s first canned-at-source spring water.
"With consumers demanding more transparency around brand’s sustainability policies, and actively seeking out brands that put sustainability at the top of their agenda, we know that we need to be doing everything we can, not just to protect our farm and the land around us, but also to tick the boxes of the ever-growing eco-conscious consumer. But our ultimate aim is to be a driving force for change in the environmental impact of consumables.
"If we can play even a small part in encouraging more people and businesses to ditch the plastic and switch to cans, or glass, or to simply consider the environmental footprint of the products they consume, then we’re well on our way."
Marlish Waters was set up several years ago after the family's petting farm closed to visitors in 2002 in the wake of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that caused huge disruption in the UK farming sector. The firm has gone on to employ six people and now supplies hundreds of hospitality venues as well as supermarket chain Booths.
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