Vegware named Solution of the Year at the 2degrees Awards

News release

Photography available

Edinburgh, 10^th July

Vegware named Solution of the Year at the 2degrees Awards

Vegware, the UK’s first and only completely compostable packaging company have been named Solution of the Year at the 2degrees Champions Awards. The awards, which showcased the companies pushing the boundaries of sustainable business, are the only ones entirely voted for by industry peers. The awards recognised Vegware for their pioneering work to join up the waste and packaging sectors to reduce the environmental impact of catering disposables, and creating ground breaking support services to drive the UK foodservice sector towards zero waste.

From the three cutlery items offered five years ago, Vegware’s range has grown to over 200 completely compostable products, including many award-winning packaging innovations resulting from the firm’s active R&D programme. All Vegware’s catering disposables are made from recycled and sustainably sourced eco materials and are completely compostable – so unlike most foodservice packaging, Vegware can be simply recycled after use. Vegware’s non-profit initiative The Food Waste Network is a free service matchmaking any UK business with local food waste collections and promoting zero waste.

Vegware founder and Managing Director, Joe Frankel said, “We are delighted to have been named 2degrees Solution of the Year. The key to our success is that we are the only solution for zero waste in foodservice. At the core of what we do is a simple realisation - you can't recycle food with plastic in it, and you can't recycle plastic with food on it. Our compostable cups, cutlery, tableware and boxes can simply be recycled with food waste after use. We’re taking green mainstream with our practical, holistic solution and it’s fantastic to have been recognised amongst such a impressive group of sustainable businesses.”

400 people attended the annual award ceremony, which was hosted at Wembley Stadium. There were a total of 240 entries, a massive 140% increase from last year, and 7,473 votes were cast to decide the final 14 winners. 

Martin Chilcott, CEO, 2degrees said: “This year’s award shortlisted nominees are an incredible collection of individuals and companies who have changed the way we think about sustainable business. Vegware’s award represents years of commitment to thinking afresh, tackling inefficiencies and trailblazing ground-breaking solutions which have a positive impact on society. The 2degrees network provides businesses with an opportunity to showcase best practice, build relationships on and offline, and inspire others to start their sustainable journey.”

Run from its Edinburgh HQ, Vegware is now a global brand with operations in the UK, US, South Africa, Australasia and now UAE, with a Europe-wide network of distribution partners from Iceland to Portugal. Recently named Scotland’s 3^rd fastest-growing company in the Deloitte Fast 50 Awards, Vegware has achieved 901% turnover growth in five years, coming 160^th in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa tech-sector ranking.

This latest achievement comes after a fantastic year for Vegware, who won over a dozen awards in 2013. Highlights include the top prize in the Scottish Green Awards and the FSB UK Streamline Awards, and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

1.  Vegware has won over three dozen awards and accolades since 2009, including Queen’s Award for Enterprise, UK Fast 50, Streamline UK Business of the Year and European Business Awards – full list here.

2.  Vegware’s zero waste initiative The Food Waste Network is mapping all UK trade food waste collections by postcode, and offers a free matchmaking service for any UK business seeking food waste recycling. www.foodwastenetwork.org.uk

3.  The Vegware Community Fund gives small monthly grants to 13 non-profit sustainability projects, with a new recipient being added every quarter as Vegware grows – info here.

4.  Vegware is a Founding Supporter of WRAP and Zero Waste Scotland’s Hospitality and Foodservice Agreement which is uniting the foodservice sector around two targets: reducing food and associated packaging waste by 5% and recycling over 70%. Vegware’s pledge to support this is the Food Waste Network – see our HaFSA blog Food Waste Stories.

5.  According to the 2013 Deloitte Fast 50, with 901% revenue growth over five years, Vegware is the 3^rd fastest growing firm in Scotland, 30^th fastest in the UK, and 160^th fastest in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Now in its sixteenth year, is an acknowledgement of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in the UK.

6.  2degrees members cast 7,473 votes over six weeks in the 2 degrees Awards. Members voted by assessing entries, which were published on the 2degrees platform. The aim of the awards programme is to showcase the individuals and teams behind the initiatives, best practice and pioneering sustainable business ideas that are providing real value.

About Vegware:

Vegware Ltd is the UK’s first and only completely compostable food packaging company. The multiple award-winning firm specialises in the development and manufacture of compostable packaging for foodservice. Vegware’s Food Waste Network matchmakes any UK business with local food waste recycling services. Vegware invests in product development and has brought many compostable innovations to market, including hot cup lids, double wall cups, high-heat cutlery and soup containers.

Clients range from the UK’s biggest contract caterers and food distributors through to UK government offices, NHS units and independent artisan delis and cafes. Vegware was founded in 2006 and the global operations are coordinated from its HQ in Edinburgh, UK. The firm’s eco products are available worldwide through Vegware US, Vegware South Africa, Vegware Europe, Vegware Australia, now Horeca in UAE, Friendlypak in New Zealand as well as a Europe-wide network of distribution partners from Iceland to Portugal. Visit www.vegware.com for the full catalogue and further information.

About 2degrees

2degrees helps major corporations cut costs, reduce risk and achieve smarter growth by being more sustainable. It does this by helping them transform out-dated business practices, using fully-linked collaboration to make it simple and efficient for them to work closely and at scale with suppliers, internal operations and customers.

It also manages an online collaboration platform with more than 40,000 professional members which acts as an important facilitator, helping to engage, inform and enable companies in a value chain to work together to realise the benefits of being more sustainable. For more information visit: www.2degreesnetwork.co.uk

Further information, interviews and more:

  comms@vegware.co.uk / 0845 643 0406 / @vegware

www.vegware.com

Lucy Frankel, Communications Director, Vegware

lucy@vegware.co.uk / 07906 635 139 / @lucyfrankel

Photography

Photos of the awards ceremony can be found here.

© Paul J Cochrane

High and low res images of our products, people and award wins can be found here.

Low-res images include _800x in the filename and high-res images do not.