We talk to the business founder who has helped independent British bakeries save 30 tonnes of bread with his company Earth & Wheat.
James Eid, 20, isn’t like most university students in that during the pandemic he managed to successfully launch a business that tackles food waste. While working for his family’s business Signature Flatbreads in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, Eid had witnessed the immense amount of bread passing through bakeries to landfills first hand. Feeling appalled by the lack of options around that save skew-whiff breads, while completing a B.Sc (Hons) in Business Management at Lancaster University, he took it upon himself to start a rescue and delivery service that helps independent bakeries sell on their wonky goods to homes nationwide in the form of a subscription box service.
Why is it important to be fighting food waste today and how does your company do this?
I’m a fourth generation baker through my family’s bakery. I’ve seen what goes on behind the scenes and it’s devastating. That’s why I set up Earth & Wheat. We’re the first in the world to rescue wonky and surplus breads fresh to the consumer.
We’re essentially rescuing the planet at the same time, because for every box that you get, you also save over 3000 litres of virtual water [the water used in food production], and three kilos of CO2. The food waste we have doesn’t just concern the emissions that come from its decomposition, but it’s also the actual energy and resources that have gone into the food in the supply chain. The whole process involved in making food and all of the consequences of wasting that food is devastating for our environment. A lot of the time, the food that we’re seeing wasted is perfectly edible, and perfectly tasty. It’s horrible to see it happen.
Explain a bit about how the process works – how do you save and deliver the bread safely?
It’s very difficult to keep bread fresh. It has to be delivered very quickly. So the bakeries themselves rescue with our support, and with our technology and software, and then they’re able to deliver directly and locally to the customer. Even though we’re bakers at heart and we understand the industry already, we are very much a tech company, and strongly believe that technology is the future. It enables food waste to be rescued in the most efficient way.
All of our partner bakeries operate to the highest hygiene standards like AIB Higher Level and so they know what’s good and what’s bad. Anything that’s touched the floor will always be thrown away for instance. The reality is though that the way food is sorted in most places is that when it comes out of the oven, it is sorted into good and bad bits, depending on if it fits appearance standards, or if the bakery has overproduced in their quantities of bread.
The bad bits are then sent to animal feed or straight to the landfill. But essentially the way our company works is that anything that’s good to eat, but is just wonky, is put into a special Earth & Wheat tray and then are repacked, and sent to the customer fresh. So it’s exactly the same quality in terms of hygiene and preparation as normal bread, but it’s wonky, so no one else will take it.
You use a lot of social platforms including TikTok to advertise the company, are you trying to target a larger or younger audience?
With selling bakery products it’s about volume. Our price point is very low, and the value offered is really excellent. Whilst most of our customers might not necessarily be on TikTok, there will be people on [the site] who really love what we offer. We understand that social media plays a huge role in marketing, and they target different demographics, so for us it’s about as much exposure as possible in a good light, and TikTok gives us that opportunity.
You say on your website that for each box ordered, you donate a meal to UK food banks, do you know how many meals you’ve donated so far since you launched?
For each box we aim to send an amount of bread that is equal to the size of one meal. We’ve actually been able to donate more than one per box bought at the moment because we have access to that waste, which is perfectly wonky and ready to eat. We’ve donated around 20,000 meals so far, which is great. We donate the breads to charity food bank distributors who then redistribute to other food banks.
Do you have any plans to expand the types of breads you offer? Will you offer bread loaves or baps for example?
Over the next year, I’m hoping to onboard new bakeries to provide a wider rescue range. Food waste in as many areas as possible, provide the customer with the choice to rescue what they want. And then expand from there. We started mainly with things like flatbreads and crumpets. We’re now in the process of onboarding lots of new bakeries and lots of different types of boxes to everyone in as many places across the country as possible, so we’ll be able to offer more types of bread products which is exciting.
How have the past few months been for you since Earth & Wheat first launched?
I’m never off my feet to be honest! It’s really heartwarming to see the amount of support and passion for the cause. That’s what fuels us. It’s the support of our customers more than the wonky bread itself that allows us to thrive and we’re loving every moment of it.
You can follow Earth & Wheat’s ventures on their website as well as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter.
If you want to join the wonky bread cause, subscription boxes are £6.99 for delivery every 2-3 weeks and once a month. Delivery once a week costs £6.89.