Making ethical and sustainable choices as part of our busy everyday lives can feel like a tall order. Between decoding green claims, squinting at fine print during a grocery dash and trying to track down the best producers, it’s often more effort than we can spare. And, let’s be honest: sometimes it costs more, too. Is it worth the extra time and money?
That’s why we’re shining a light on brands and businesses that are making it easier for us to do better without sacrificing taste or convenience. These quiet disruptors are shaking things up in thoughtful ways, tackling the everyday challenges of eating well while making a positive impact for people and the planet.
Disco Scallops
Until recently, 95 to 98 per cent of scallops landed into the UK – some 100 million – were caught using dredges, heavy devices that plough into the seabed, damaging marine life.
A team of scientists, restaurateurs, experts and seafood lovers accidentally uncovered a fuel-efficient way to catch scallops that bypasses this process. The group puts brightly lit crab and oyster pots on the sea floor instead, attracting scallops that lift themselves off and swim (or dance?) towards them.
Lee Cash, Dr Rob Enever, Rachel Walker and Mike Berthet are now busy embedding their planet-friendlier method into the livelihoods of struggling British fishermen, who have seen increasing pressures on their jobs thanks to Brexit, rising costs and collapsing crab and lobster stocks.
Their efforts to set a new standard for how shellfish are caught, sold and savoured won them a BBC Food and Farming Award for Food Innovation. Chefs are signing up, and the scallops and disco pots are available online (find the scallops at therockfish.co.uk). For the discerning seafood lover, the scallops are an easy win that benefits the sea and the people who depend on it. discoscallops.co.uk
Wylde Market
It’s never been easier to get groceries delivered to your door. But, seasonal, ethically produced food direct at source is still harder to get than it should be. Small-scale farmers and fishermen often lack time or reach to sell beyond their postcodes.
Wylde Market is trying to change that – the online farmers’ market is connecting independent UK producers with customers across the country. From regenerative meat and organic veg to fresh fish, everything is sourced with transparency, and delivered in a box on Fridays.
For producers, Wylde offers something radical: control over how they reach shoppers. They decide what to sell, when and at what price, with no middlemen or pressures. For home cooks, it’s a way to shop that supports better food systems without overhauling the routine and discover new ingredients, like hogget (lamb aged between one and two years that’s more sustainable and flavourful than spring lamb).
There are over 100 producers and more than 1,000 products available, and sales have doubled year on year. With customers dotted around the country, it offers a new way to imagine a farmers’ market. wylde.market
Sea Sisters
Britain is an island nation, yet our fish-eating habits are out of sync with our blue food. Most of the seafood we eat is imported, while most of what we catch is sent abroad. We rely heavily on just five species, overlooking the wide variety of native fish and shellfish from our own waters.
Sea Sisters aims to change that. Founded by Charlotte Dawe and chef Angus Cowen, the craft cannery works with low-impact fisheries and aquaculture to preserve seafood that’s often ignored, like mussels, cuttlefish and whelks. Whelks are edible sea snails that are nutrient-dense, high in protein, iodine and B12, and a delicacy in Korean and Japanese cuisine. But, in the UK, they’re unusual on our plates – around 90 per cent of our catch is exported.
Sea Sisters makes them easier to try at home, offering cans that are recyclable for a product that is flavourful and thoughtful, made with ingredients like grass-fed butter and extra virgin olive oil. Beyond that, Sea Sisters paired Norfolk-harvested whelks with kimchi as part of a collaboration with fisherwoman Ashley Mullenger for International Women’s Day.
Women have always played a role in British fishing, often behind the scenes. Sea Sisters highlights their stories alongside the food, inviting us to enjoy seafood more locally and thoughtfully. seasisters.co.uk
Kulcher Kitchen
Eating more plant-based food is one of the most powerful shifts we can make to reduce pressure on land, water and climate. But, it can be hard to find meals that reflect global food culture.
Kulcher, founded by Kyle Parchment, reimagines heritage dishes – Indian butter chicken, Caribbean jerk, Chettinad lamb – through a vegan lens. Kyle created the range using family recipes and dishes he learned while travelling.
The meals are balanced and made with alternative proteins like mushrooms, tempeh, lentils and pulses. This isn’t meat substitutes or ultra-processed swaps: it’s whole foods, bold seasoning and a chef’s hand that honours the flavour of traditional dishes. For Parchment, the aim is to bring cultural care and real food to ready-meals.
Kulcher is stocked in Tesco and Ocado, reaching those who might not otherwise seek out plant-based or global options. That’s the disruption: normalising plant-based meals not as a special diet, but simply good food. kulcher.co.uk
Northern Pasta Co
What if your next pasta meal could support British grain farmers and nature, while still delivering that perfect al dente bite?
That’s the quiet revolution behind Northern Pasta Co. Founder Imogen Royall first encountered ancient British grains while working in a bakery. Struck by their flavour and potential on grocery shelves, she teamed up with her husband Matt Kenyon to create small-batch pasta that’s as sustainable as it is satisfying.
The pasta is made from regeneratively grown grains, which reduces artificial inputs and nurtures soil and nature using traditional Italian methods. They’re made primarily with white spelt, a hardy, nutty relative to modern wheat, but with higher protein content.
The company has partnered with Wildfarmed to support regenerative farmers and local millers, who turn the grain into flour. The pasta is then packaged in recyclable paper bags, ready for recycling when empty.
There are eight pasta shapes, including radiatori (small, squat pasta named for its resemblence to radiators) and gigli, which has a pretty flower shape that’s inspired by lilies. Both are excellent with thick, creamy pasta sauces, as they hold them well. And, if it helps to know, Italians are fans of this brand, too! northernpasta.co.uk
Honest Bean Co
Fava beans – smaller, mature varieties of broad beans – have been grown in the UK since the Iron Age, and are the only dried bean produced in any significant volume here. Yet, most are shipped overseas or used as animal feed — a missed opportunity, especially for a crop that’s a nutritional powerhouse that fixes nitrogen into the soil and travels small distance from field to fork.
Enter Adam and Zoe Palmer-Oates, sibling farmers from Yorkshire who wanted to get Britain snacking on favas. The Honest Bean Co was born from their mission to champion this ancient bean in a format and taste that’s easy to love. They grow some of the beans themselves, while the rest are supplied by other UK farmers through Hodmedod’s.
They started by making dips, but, during lockdown, they pivoted to ambient snacking. Lightly roasted and naturally flavoured, their crunchy bean snacks are packed with protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. From salt and vinegar crunch to smoky paprika, they’ve found a new way for us to enjoy them alongside our favourite treats, on the go or while at work. honestbean.co.uk
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