Alder Tree - Our Values

FRUIT CREAM ICE

Alder Tree was founded on the belief that everything we do should be done in an ethical & sustainable way. This commitment underpins everything we do.

You can see find out find our more about what we are doing below and you can see our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy by clicking just to the right of here clicking here.

If you ave any questions, or suggestions we would love to hear from you on info@alder-tree.co.uk

We believe that we all have a responsibility to do what we can to reduce our carbon foot print.

As such we purchase electricity from a 100% renewable tariff from LOCO2 Energy and carbon balance with the World Land Trust.

We are excited to announce that in 2011 we have also installed 9.6kw of solar panels which will produce over 30% of Alder Tree's onsite electricity needs.

At Alder Carr Farm we farm in a manner sympathetic to the environment, minimising pesticide use and leaving as many wild areas as possible to encourage insects and wildlife. Over 70 bird and 250 plant species have been recorded on the farm & the Alder Carr - an area of wet woodland on the farm - has been designated an official Suffolk Wildlife Trust Otter Haven. We believe farmers have as responsibility to sustainably manage the countryside & manage the farm under Defra's Environmental Stewardship Scheme.

All the ingredients we use are of the highest quality & sourced as locally as possible. We use no artifical flavours, colours or preservatives in any of our products. Over 60% of our fruit comes from our own farm - Alder Carr Farm - or our family farm at Bury St Edmunds & the rest is grown by local growers within East Anglia., supporting local farmers and minimising food miles. Our sugar is East Anglian and we use only fresh British cream. The few ingredients that do come from abroad such as vanilla & ginger are fairly traded from sustainable sources.

Palm oil is widely used in everything from food to soap &, as we have discovered for ourselves, is very hard to avoid. Its production has been responsible for large scale deforestation & the destruction of important wildlife habitats across the globe, such as those of the Bornean Orang-utans. We have seen the vast scale of this destruction for ourselves & are committed to becoming completely palm oil free. Until that is possible - our toffee pieces contain a very small quantity - we will only use palm oil that is certified from sustainable sources.

All our paper & cardboard packaging is recycled or FSC certified. The packing material we use was originally used for protecting solar panels in transit. Our 4 litre containers are made from polypropylene which, according to Greenpeace, has one of the lowest impacts on the environment of any plastic. We also use a green printer for all our posters and leaflets.

At Alder Tree we passionately believe that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing as well as you possibly can. We use only the finest quality ingredients & will never cut corners to the detriment of our products to save time or money.

Reduce, reuse, recycle! We actually produce very little waste and all waste paper, cardboard, rigid plastic & glass our collected for recycling whilst any food waste is composted. We also have a recycling centre on site to help customers to the farm shop do their bit too.