Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest independent cheese producers and also generators of renewable energy, has announced a national partnership with Good Energy, the 100% renewable electricity and green gas company.
Wyke Farms is running an on-pack competition with Good Energy for 20 weeks, giving consumers the opportunity to win one of several prizes. The main prize is a lifetime supply of renewable electricity (value £22,000), as well as 20 one year’s supply prizes (capped at £550 per year each) and 50 Somerset produce hampers, worth £50 each. The competition appears on all Wyke Farms Cheddar packs, across the core range of Mature, Extra Mature and Vintage.
Both brands share a passion for food and energy provenance and, through this partnership, hope to increase consumer understanding of the environmental consequences of their consumption choices, be it for food or energy.
With over 50% of UK food coming from a foreign country, Wyke Farms’ is looking for a way to tell its farm to fork story. The Clothier family has been making award winning cheddar from their traditional family recipe, in the heart of Somerset, for over 155 years, with all of their milk coming from their family farm or other local family farms and British Red Tractor farms.
Meanwhile, Good Energy, the UK’s first 100% renewable electricity supplier, is keen to educate consumers about where its energy comes from. Their research shows that over 60% of power used to generate electricity is imported from abroad, travelling on average up to 2,500 miles before it reaches the UK. All of the electricity Good Energy supplies to the National Grid is sourced from UK renewable sources like wind and solar, as well as biofuels generated from food waste at Wyke Farms.
Wyke Farms and Good Energy both claim to be leaders in sustainability. Juliet Davenport, CEO and Founder of Good Energy, comments: “We are two very like-minded businesses so it’s great to be working together. Using food waste to generate renewable energy is a great example of a sustainable business in action, and we’re proud to say that some of this unique power makes up part of our electricity.”
Rich Clothier, third generation family member and Managing Director of Wyke Farms, comments: “The prize offering of our competition has the humble cow at the very heart of it; firstly, by supplying the milk to make the cheese and then to create the waste that generates the power, which will be supplied by Good Energy to fulfill the prize. It’s working with nature at its very best.”
Wyke Farms products are available nationwide and can be found in Asda, Co-op, Makro, Sainsbury’s Tesco and Waitrose. Good Energy sells 100% renewable electricity and green gas to thousands of homes and business around the UK via the National Grid.