Puffin Produce, the largest supplier of Welsh produce, has been collaborating with local farmers in Wales to address their climate and land-use impacts.

Puffin has a long-standing relationship with its growers, sourcing its produce from a dedicated grower base. For a number of years, the business has been measuring its farming impacts using the Cool Farm Tool — an online greenhouse gas, water, and biodiversity calculator – and has been continuously innovating its production and processing operations.

Over the past year, 3Keel has worked with Puffin to deliver a bespoke grower scheme that raises ambition beyond LEAF Marque and the incoming Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme, with four levers for action: i) Optimising fertiliser use, ii) Optimising field management, iii) Building soil organic matter and health, iv) Increasing tree cover. These levers were carefully designed through workshops with Puffin’s growers and agronomy team, and we produced a practical guide to support the scheme.

Beyond this, we calculated Puffin’s GHG footprint for 2019-21 and helped them set ambitious near-term and Net Zero emissions reduction targets, which have now been validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative. We built a roadmap to 2040 to map the actions required to achieve these targets and better understand the impact of existing projects, like the installation of over two megawatts of solar PV at their site in Haverfordwest. A central focus of the plan we co-developed with Puffin is the mitigation of emissions in its value chain and enhancement of carbon sinks on farms through actions that bring co-benefits to biodiversity, water quality and soil health.

Using the transition plan framework and a holistic, long-term view of the farming landscape in Wales, we supported Puffin through building an overarching sustainability strategy to improve its environmental impact and reduce physical and transition risks from climate change. Engaging with the Puffin team and growers in-person was essential for transforming the company’s sustainability aims into real, on-the-ground projects with the belief and backing of those who can make change happen.

“The entire team that has worked on the project have been hugely effective,” said Matthew Thomas, Puffin’s Head of Sales & Marketing. “3Keel has a great understanding of the issues and have provided us with clear guidance.”

3Keel is proud to have supported Puffin Produce to take their sustainability work to the next level. We are also particularly excited that this project has led to the creation of a new Landscape Enterprise Network (LENs) in Wales, with its first trade planned for 2024.

You can find out more about LENs here.