Our regenerative organic agriculture vision
We work with farmers and growers all over the world to source the best organic, practitioner grade herbs for our herbal creations. We always partner with those who are growing plants in a sustainable, organic way - protecting the environment, people and the wildlife around them.
Our vision is to build a truly sustainable organic value chain. To work closely with our farmers and growers to find effective, natural, low-carbon ways to boost yields in a changing climate. To always pay fair and decent prices for harvests, creating sustainable livelihoods and supporting thriving communities.
By creating these circles of benevolence, not only can we improve people’s lives, we can build resilience in our supply chain to help meet our increasing demand for herbs grown in ways that are beneficial to people, plants and the planet.
A whole host of challenges threaten the livelihoods of farmers and growers today. Climate change is affecting harvests, with natural disasters like droughts, fires and floods on the rise. Farmers are getting older and fewer younger generations are stepping in, seeking more secure income elsewhere.
By forming close, long-term partnerships with our organic farmers and growers, supported by third party certifications, we can help ensure that we build a supply chain that is not only beneficial for our planet, but that also provides a viable and sustainable way for farmers to make a living around the world.
Regenerative organic agriculture in practice:
We have identified ways to reduce our carbon impact and improve our climate resilience in the field. We are providing support to our farmers to implement best practice techniques through our community fair premiums and our Pukka Life Impact Fund for pilot projects and training.
Here is how some of these are being applied by our farmers and growers:
Water efficient farming in India
Babu Holagi grows Fair for Life certified organic field mint near Gadag, North Karnataka, India. It’s arid land, which makes it difficult to grow on. Due to lack of water, he can normally grow field mint on just one acre of his four-acre farm. Babu Holagi used a portion of the Fair for Life premium that comes from supplying Pukka to install a new drip irrigation system.
This is a very efficient method of watering as it’s buried in the ground to minimise evaporation. It has resulted in a 40% saving in water compared to the sprinklers he was using before. It means he’s been able to grow another 50% of organic mint with the same amount of water.
Rainwater harvesting in the UK
Organic Blooms is an organic cut flower business based close to the Herb House (our global HQ), on the outskirts of Bristol. It’s also a social enterprise that delivers a therapeutic medium for people with learning difficulties and mental health support needs. Organic Blooms grows echinacea for Pukka, a key ingredient in our Elderberry & Echinacea tea.
The summer of 2018 saw a prolonged drought through much of the UK, the latest in a worrying pattern of extreme weather events. At Organic Blooms, the drought severely affected the flower harvest. The water table fell below the depth which borehole pumps could reach, meaning essential irrigation wasn’t possible.
Organic Blooms has used funding from the Pukka Life Impact Fund to set up a water-harvesting project, capturing and storing precious rainwater for polytunnel irrigation in the summer months. With a storage capacity of 40,000 litres, Organic Blooms is now much better prepared for dry periods in the future.
Producing compost
A group of farmers in India used our Pukka Life Impact Fund to build compost bins. Compost produced on farm is a great way to empower farmers to increase the organic matter content of their soil. This improves both water and nutrient-holding capacity as well as improving soil structure – all essential qualities of productive and healthy organic soil.
You can read more in our Sustainability Report