Our Sustainability Policy

The team at Nim’s are always working on ways to improve our contribution to lowering our carbon footprint, increase our use of recyclable packaging and products and reduce the waste that we produce overall.

Food Waste

Fresh Produce

Our crisps are made using the whole fruit or vegetable, this includes skin, core, pips and seeds, meaning that we create virtually zero food waste. This is with the exception of pineapples, (nobody likes a prickly snack) which we peel and top and the odd rotten apple.

– 95% of the fruit and vegetables we buy is deemed ‘wonky’.

– 70% of British grown produce is bought within a 15-30mile radius of our factory

We process over 1000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables every year. Of this, only 0.5% is wasted but this waste is collected by an anaerobic waste company which converts it into renewable energy. Zero waste

Products we have created out of ‘food waste’ are:

Pet foods

Edible Teas

Citrus peels

We are diligent who we source our fruit and vegetables from. Responsible sourcing is a way of doing business that enables us to say with confidence that we know our ingredients and packing materials come only from suppliers that meet our stringent certification requirements and ethical standards. All of our suppliers are Global Gap, BRC, IFS, ISO2200 or EFSAW certified.

We work with our suppliers to ensure that our supply chains are transparent, from the source to the finished product. It also means identifying and addressing key issues along the way, including human rights, environmental protection, animal welfare, health and safety and business integrity.

Air dried products

When we pack our crisps, ingredients, and infusions, we filter out the small or broken pieces. These are just as nutritious and great tasting so we have used these to create a whole host of new products such as our Edible Teas – a world first, Ingredients and other products (it’s a secret!) that we will look to launch in 2022.

Zero waste

Our aim is not just to reduce the waste we produce but also to help you do the same and this is how: our proprietory method of drying fruit and vegetable removes more than 95% of moisture which not only enhances the natural flavours of the end product but also retains a majority of the nutritional values of the fresh fruit and vegetable we use. Nim’s is the only crisp brand to have each pack licensed by Public Health England as 1 of your 5 a Day! Every portion of every product we create will count as to 1 of your 5 a day. The absolute best part of this process is that all Nim’s products have a minimum shelf life of 3 years from the date of production and they still look and taste absolutely amazing long after that! Once again minimising waste.

Currently we sell our ingredients to restaurants, hotels and other food producers. They are used in all sorts ways – toppings on a salad, as sweetener in porridge, a taste booster in smoothies and even as a topping for a pizza. Our air-dried onions are truly to die for! They are also great as one of the main ingredients in a dish because once seeped in liquid, they re hydrate back to their original state. Having air dried ingredients means that you have them in stock whenever you need them without the risk of wastage and without compromising on quality and flavour.

We will be launching our retail ready packs in 2022 allowing you to have your larder stocked with essentials such as onion, ginger, peppers, apple, pineapple and pear to name just a few

In Our Factory

Non-food waste

Again, we recycle almost everything.

– The wooden pallets we send our finished products out on, are re-useable and never single purpose. Any broken pallets are collected and recycled by local builders, tradesmen and members of the local community using them to make all sorts of weird and wonderful creations.

– Our dried fruit storage bins are made from toughened, food grade, recyclable virgin plastic instead of single use containers that we would have to dispose of frequently.

– – We have a cardboard recycling container that is supplied by Smurfit Kappa. Local farmers also collect pallet loads of cardboard boxes for use on their farms and deliveries.

Sustainability

& Environmental Conscience

Packaging

Here, we wish we could tell you that all our packaging is fully recyclable and you can confidently put it in your domestic recycling bin. Unfortunately, we can’t. We hope, having read the above, it’s evident that this isn’t a wilful or lazy act on our part.

Air dried fruit crisps are a new thing… we pretty much invented the concept and created a category in supermarkets that didn’t exist. Needless to say we are very proud of our innovations – after all we’ve won more than 20 industry awards, the latest being The Queen’s Award for Innovation.

However, with innovation come challenges. One of our biggest challenge has been finding environmentally friendly packaging. As things stand, there are very few choices and none that we believe are truly sustainable. As it happens, our packaging is recyclable, but only if it’s taken to an industrial recycling centre. We haven’t said this on our packs to date because we feel it’s misleading and transparency in all we do is of utmost importance to us. We want to engender trust, not scepticism.

There is however light at the end of the tunnel for now. Walkers have recently set up some 1800 locations around the country where crisps packets from any brand can drop off their packs and these will be taken to a recycling centre. You could argue that having to drive somewhere to drop off your crisp packets which will then be picked by trucks from all these 1800 collection points cancels out some or much or all the benefits of recycling them. Here is a link to all the collection points Walkers have allocated – https://bit.ly/3nbp6gC .

There are biodegradable and compostable materials on the market but there are still many questions around how long they take to break down and whether they truly do/do not harm the environment. Here is a link to a very succinct and informative article on the different types of packaging that currently exists. https://bit.ly/3tdy94H

We don’t make any bold, lofty claims about where we will be in 5, 10, 15, 20 years’ time in terms of our carbon emission because we just don’t know how the industry is going to advance and change and what our capabilities will be. What we can promise is that we are continually looking to improve our practices.

Energy efficiency:

We use gas to generate the heat for our drying machine
All lighting in our production area is motion controlled
Our electricity is supplied by Green Energy
- We encourage our team to be mindful by taking simple actions such as filling the kettle with just enough water for their needs.

Sustainability & Environmental Conscience

We recycle as much as we can; from cardboard to wooden pallets, to our food waste. Nearly everything we use is recycled or recyclable.

We try and keep any waste that may go to landfill to a minimum by using dedicated professional service providers.

We are passionate about reducing food waste. We operate a nearly zero food waste site.

We Remain Dedicated & Transparent About Our Environmental Work

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT

Nim’s Fruit Limited is committed to implementing practical measures to ensure our environmental responsibilities are discharged to the best of our ability. The company accepts its obligations both legal and social to employees and to other persons who may be affected by our activities.

This Environmental Policy embraces:

Use of energy efficiently.
Compliance with Packaging Waste Regulations 2012 and Environmental Regulations 2010
The company will ensure all packaging in liaison with customers is the minimum necessary for physical protection, safety and delivery of its products to the point of use.
Recycle waste cardboard and continually investigate the possibilities of recycling other waste products.
Display this policy in a prominent position throughout the facility and inform key staff of any specific demands made on them as a result of following it
Demonstrate respect for our neighbours’ environment by avoidance of undue noise, minimal commercial traffic entering the site and the safe and prompt disposal of all waste materials.
Overall responsibility for this policy falls on to our Founder and CEO, Nimisha Raja.

Nimisha Raja

Date: 10th January 2022