Sustainability

Producing beer is resource intensive. We use a lot of water, gas and energy, and we produce a considerable amount of waste. Challenging ourselves and our suppliers to minimise the resources we use, and to find useful or recyclable homes for the waste we can’t eliminate, is very important to the Fourpure team.

We can only manage what we measure. By constantly recording our consumption and impact, and their trends, we can understand our progress and help us to grow with sustainability firmly in our sights.

We’ve highlighted some of our initiatives below. 

Fourpure are delighted to be involved in the Olafur Eliasson: In real life exhibition at the Tate modern where we have produced a beer from sustainable produce to accompany the Menu. To enjoy the beer at home also please click here

WATER USE

Meters, meters everywhere!  We keep a weekly record of our water use, reading each meter religiously on a Friday. Since our first measured results in 2014 we have slowly but continuously improved from a ratio of 10:1 units of water per unit of packaged beer to where we currently stand today at 5:1, with a target of 5:1 for 2017 (always set goals).

DRY WASTE 

There are some easy day-to-day wins in this area - We have structured training and awareness of sorting and separation of recyclable materials for brewery staff, we put pressure on suppliers to reduce use of non recyclable packaging (a big part of this was plastic shipping wrap) and full recycling of all products and food waste in our tap room.

BREWING CO-PRODUCTS 

Since 2014 we have worked with Sustain (EU & Mayor of London scheme - http://www.sustainweb.org/foodwaste/) to divert co-products to the food chain which delivers considerably improved reuse.  This scheme requires adherence with Feed Hygiene and other relevant safeguards. Over time we have intensified our efforts in this area as our production volumes have increased. We are currently feeding over 1000 cattle every week. We have given away spent grain to a local urban farm (Surrey Docks Farm) and are working with some masters students at Imperial College London to develop new sustainable business ideas.

THE FUTURE

We can do so much more!  The realities of running a start-up brewery, time, skills and focus are all dynamics that we must manage over the coming years to achieve continual improvement. Have an idea for us or want to get involved with our sustainability mission - get in touch with us here.