FOOD
DRINKS
OTHER
THE ETHICAL BUTCHER
The Ethical Butcher was born when Glen Burrows, an ex-vegetarian of 25 years, met Farshad Kazemian, a meat trader wanting to make a positive impact with his business. Together they started this full carcass butchery, supplying regeneratively produced meats of the highest quality but the lowest impact.
Today, their small but growing team consists of many forward-thinking people with interesting life experiences who bring fresh thinking to the industry, such as an ex-environmental lawyer turned butcher, the former CEO of Vice Media, and the ex-Photo Director of Men’s Fitness magazine. All equally passionate about food and the environment, they’re excited to make a real difference to both the health and wellbeing of their customers and the landscape of the UK by encouraging more farmers to farm in nature-friendly, biodiverse, and regenerative ways.
The name was originally a working title, but it stuck. And the team are proud that it holds them accountable for their actions. They’re completely transparent about their supply chain and consider sustainability in each aspect of the business, from the staff contracts to transport and packaging, continuously reassessing the impact of all their suppliers. They’re even using a proportion of their profits to train more farmers in regenerative farming techniques.
Through this consistent and passionate work, The Ethical Butcher is educating customers in how to enjoy meat in a well balanced way and dispelling myths around the potential impact of meat production in the UK.
GUNG HO
Sophie Dunster started Gung Ho to get people talking about important issues through the conversations we have about our wardrobes.
She designs sustainable, adaptable clothing in her studio in a shipping container in Battersea. The fabrics are printed in Gloucestershire and each item is made locally in London, supporting small businesses. Each design is based on colourful prints packed with meaning around a particular issue. And every piece is a conversation starter - walking artworks that get people talking about their passions.
We met Sophie during her 2019 Food for Thought campaign addressing the impact food has on our planet. Chantelle went to try something on and found out that Sophie was booked into Tredwells later that week. They became friends, joining forces to lead educational supper clubs. Since then, we’ve been lucky to have Sophie design and make the uniforms for Tredwells, All’s Well, and now Apricity.
But Sophie doesn’t just want to educate others. She also lives her values. Using sustainable fabrics, each item is cleverly designed to avoid waste during production. And by designing the clothing to be size-adjustable she extends each garment's life cycle. Leftover fabric is used for smaller items and fed into Gung Ho Reworked – including one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and upcycled vintage garments.
Gung Ho is also challenging the way the fashion industry works by launching a bespoke made-to-order collection this year. This will reduce stock waste by making pre-ordered monthly batches. To make this possible they collaborate with other London makers and their customers, bringing everyone together and giving their customers more choice.
The name stems from being ‘gung ho’ - acting with raw enthusiasm and attitude. And we think Sophie is just that. Engaging and inspiring people in a positive way to be part of the solution.
THE SEA, THE SEA
Inspired by the line "La mer, la mer toujours recommencée" (The sea, the sea every day re-starting) from a poem by Paul Valery, this pioneering seafood merchant shares the sea’s fresh new bounty every day with shops, restaurants, and customers in an exciting and sustainable way.
With a shared love of the incredible variety of fish around our native shores, the team began a mission to promote the full range of species available to UK customers. By working with restaurant partners, and selling through their own shops and restaurants, they’re making sure this local produce is enjoyed here in the UK and not lost to countries who recognise its quality better than we have done in the past.
They’ve built a strong relationship with some of the best fishermen in Devon, Cornwall, and Scotland. The wild, UK-caught produce comes straight off these local day-boats into The Sea, The Sea’s own transport, meaning the fish can be delivered within 24 hours of being caught.
Plus - there’s no middle man. That way they can be completely sure of the quality of catch going into their shops and restaurants, and ours, and remain totally transparent with their customers.
They work closely with the fishermen and external consultants to make sure they’re working as sustainably as possible, and always refer to official bodies such as MSC and Seafish. They’ve also developed their own sustainability policy to make sure they go above and beyond.
As both a supplier and a restaurant owner themselves, The Sea, The Sea understands every side of the restaurant business and perfectly supports our mission at Apricity. It’s a pleasure to work with a team who shares our desire to show love and respect for the bounty of the sea through progressive, produce-led, seasonal cooking.
ROEBUCK ESTATES
Chantelle first met Will Hine from Roebuck Estates when she was managing The Gilbert Scott. The team has since tried many bottles together and enjoyed a tour of the vineyard in Sussex.
Roebuck Estates was started in 2013 by two friends, Michael Smith and John Ball, with a passion for great wine. They knew that England, with its climate and soils, had the potential to produce world-beating sparkling wines. So, together they found the perfect site to start their own vineyard. Now, their experienced crew use their wealth of knowledge to grow the finest fruit across multiple sites, producing quality, characterful sparkling wine. After almost 10 years they’re still reaching new audiences, helping people realise the quality of the wine produced on our doorstep.
Along with their name, the wines are inspired by the Roebuck deer that roam the vineyards – nimble, elegant, and at one with their environment. So, naturally, sustainability is important to the team.
They’re also proud to be one of the founding members of the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain (SWGB) certification scheme which is driving the development of sustainability in UK viticulture. Roebuck Estates understand that keeping their vines happy and healthy through sustainable viticulture helps deliver a delicious bottle of sparkling wine.
Will says, “working with Chantelle is always a joy. Having such a champion is a great reinforcement that keeping sustainability at the heart of what you do not only feels instinctively the right way to look after your land and vineyards but also enhances the quality of the final product”.
SHRUB LONDON
Starting a business supplying restaurants in a pandemic could have ended very differently for Shrub. But with a background in catering, farming, and food supply chains, Sam and Harry noticed UK restaurants weren’t getting the high-quality, ethically-sourced fruit and veg they deserved. Determined to provide better, they quit their jobs, hired a van, and started Shrub.
Chantelle was one of their very first customers, and in 2020, Shrub began to supply Tredwells with their sustainable and integrity-driven fruit and veg, sourced directly from UK farms. Now we’re thrilled to have them supplying Apricity.
Along with other Shrub customers, by choosing them we’re increasing the demand for a better standard of agriculture, encouraging farmers to convert currently damaging farming practices into more regenerative ones.
What’s more, with our focus on celebrating UK vegetables and looking after people, we know that thanks to Shrub, the farmers who do so much for our planet and our plates are given the recognition they deserve. The more we value our farmers, the more they'll value us and the planet. And every time we order from Shrub, whether it’s rare fungi or a humble potato, we know the produce is sourced to the highest standard while also having a positive impact on our food production industry.
SITOPIA FARM
We met Chloë Dunnett at an Ellen McArthur Foundation event on the circular economy of food. So, we knew we were kindred spirits from the start. We went to visit her urban farm in Greenwich and were hooked.
Sitopia Farm (Sitopia means ‘the food place’ in ancient Greek) is London’s biggest inner-city horticultural farm. They grow vegetables, salads, herbs, fruit, and flowers on just two acres using organic, regenerative farming techniques.
It was only a year ago when hundreds of local volunteers turned a pasture field into Sitopia Farm with the help of a crowdfunding campaign, but the farm is already bursting with high-quality, sustainable produce. By growing hundreds of different varieties of flowers and edibles in this relatively small area, they’re encouraging biodiversity. And by using no-till regenerative methods they protect the soil’s microbiome, sequestering more carbon. They’re also in the process of gaining their organic certification.
This is all even more impressive when you learn that until recently, Chloë had never farmed before, having previously worked as a senior civil servant in government policy. Her team is mostly volunteers, and as a social enterprise, any profits the farm generates fund its health, social and environmental aims.
Supporting suppliers like Chloë at Sitopia Farm is what Apricity’s all about. We can’t wait to create beautiful dishes celebrating these wonderful ingredients.
Chloë says, “I’m absolutely passionate about the need for food system transformation, and the power of food to bring joy, connection and pleasure. Being supported by chefs like Chantelle is fantastic. It makes a huge difference to feel part of a community who are also passionate about what we’re trying to do.”
RENEGADE URBAN WINERY
Renegade shares our ethos of creating excellent results by building happy teams who have fun!
“Breaking the rules, one bottle at a time”, they source brilliantly grown grapes from partner vineyards across the UK and Europe. After harvesting by hand, they bring the grapes back to their warehouse in Walthamstow - by road, not plane. Here, they experiment with a mix of new and ancient production methods to make small batches of wines for modern, curious palettes. All without using chemicals or industrial processes.
In fact, if you time your visit to the winery to coincide with a delivery of grapes you may be roped into some grape squishing-yourself – using just your bare feet. Our very own General Manager, Beth, has been known to get involved on a few occasions!
Once processed, leftover squashed grapes are donated to breweries and distilleries to be used in their fermentation and distillation processes, so nothing is wasted. And though they’re already plastic-free, Renegade is further pushing the boundaries of how wine is traditionally packaged, experimenting with kegs and wine in cans for even less environmental impact.
Having been disrupting the traditional wine world for just over five years, we’re proud to have worked with them for four of those. And we’re thrilled to now be able to bring you their innovative, unique, and mouth-watering wines to enjoy alongside your meal at Apricity.
CROWN & QUEUE MEATS
Modern, sustainable food made to a recipe from the 1400s? That’s exactly what Crown & Queue Meats celebrates. Mixing traditional recipes with modern innovative techniques, they produce British cured meats in an old railway arch in South London.
Owner and founder Adrienne Treeby started the company 8 years ago, keen to preserve the British tradition of dry-aging and fermenting meat. She ran it alone for two years before hiring a team, completely passionate about the process of meat curing. She says, ‘I most often compare it to alchemy. How else do you explain the combination of so few, often simple ingredients, the addition of time alone, and this extraordinarily complex delight at the end?’.
For Adrienne, meat curing is also a key step on the journey toward reshaping our relationship with eating meat. Her recipes use every single part of the animal to reduce waste. And she’s passionate that as a product, cured meat can effectively prevent consumer food waste by eliminating spoilage. Plus, she argues, the condensed nature of air-dried meat means we eat less but feel as satisfied.
She also asks more of her suppliers, only working with farmers who focus on regeneration and sustainability. And is always evolving the company’s internal sustainability measures – reducing energy consumption and delivering by bicycle or electric vans.
Working with people like Adrienne who share our values is part of what Apricity is all about. As she says, ‘more people demanding change is a very good thing’.
58 AND CO.
We met Carmen O’Neil, owner of 58 and Co., at Renegade Winery in 2021 and have since become good friends with a shared love of excellent food and drink, and of course, sustainability.
In 2016, Carmen was forced to abandon the launch of her designer bridal shoe business at the last moment when a tragic accident left her unable to draw. But, determined not to be beaten, and desperate to start a business with purpose, she turned to happy childhood memories of her mother distilling essential oils. Fascinated by the power of distillation, she decided to distil world-class spirits that also happened to be sustainable, and 58 and Co. was born.
Just five years later, it’s the first female-owned B Corp spirit producer in the country. The collection, which began with gin (her mother’s favourite tipple) and now also includes vodka, has won numerous awards and even been praised by Forbes magazine. All this, produced in the same kind of still her mum used when she was a child (named after her for good measure) in a railway arch under the London Overground.
Carmen shows that you can be sustainable even when space is an issue. Unable to grow their own wheat in central London, they buy British wheat ethanol produced just 30 miles from the distillery. The still runs on solar energy, the driveway is built from 141000 plastic straws diverted from the ocean, and their takeaway canvas bags are made from the salvaged waste cuttings from organic cotton clothing production blended with plastic bottles.
Like us, Carmen is on a mission to reduce waste. The spent botanicals are sent back to the farm to be recycled into compost in a completely circular system. And to produce their Apple & Hibiscus gin, they use apples that have been rejected by supermarkets and would otherwise go to waste. But not content with giving these apples one life, instead of being composted once they come out of the vapour basket, the gin-infused apple mulch is sent to Humble Crumble to make apple and gin crumble.
We’re excited to be adding their gin to our menu here at Apricity. 58 and Co.’s success is proof that sustainability doesn’t have to mean compromise, and that a product can be one of the best on the market while happening to be ethical and sustainable.
KULTURED
During his 10 years working in kitchens, Jonathan was always interested in the ‘sour funky things’ the most. And having wanted to start his own business for a few years, he was excited by the different options producing miso offered, so decided to dive in and started Kultured. Inspired by Japanese whisky producers, who’s attention to detail and level of artistry he believes has elevated their drinks to the same rung as their Scottish brothers, Kultured produces miso made by hand and fermented in oak barrels in their fermentery just down the Thames in Brentford.
The only ingredient Kultured imports is the koji-kin (the edible mould spores that act as a starter for the miso) from the generous people at Akita-Konno. All the other ingredients are local and organic, including organic British barley and pulses from Hodmedods, another of our wonderful suppliers. But the key ingredient in this product? Patience - as the miso takes up to 12 months to make.
Kultured supplies restaurants in London and sells directly to customers around the country, with all their products delivered in compostable packaging. We met Jonathan online, as is often the way these days. But we’re no less connected, as he works closely with us to develop unique products for our menu at Apricity that we’re really excited to share with you.
THOMPSONS
We have great news for sustainably-minded diners and restaurateurs alike! Thanks to Pete Thompson (a.k.a. Farmer Pedro) at Thompsons, you can now source UK-grown citrus fruits and olives.
Pete’s grandfather started farming the Thompsons’ patch on the North Eastern tip of Essex in 1948, and the farm has been in the family ever since. But this long-running business is anything but traditional. Today, the team produces specialist crops for the foodservice sector and runs innovation trials learning how to successfully grow exotic ingredients such as citrus, figs and olives in an English climate.
Chantelle discovered Thompsons online and the whole team enjoyed going down to the farm for a day of tasting (and sipping!) the produce. Their strong focus on biodiversity, carbon and regenerative production matches ours at Apricity. By working together, we can create even bigger changes in our food systems. Peter provides us with new and exciting ideas of what’s possible to grow and eat in our climate, and we guide him on what ingredients are useful for kitchens in terms of flavour and sustainability. This is exactly the kind of symbiotic relationship we love to develop at Apricity.
SAPLING SPIRITS
We’ve been working with the climate-positive B Corp, Sapling Spirits, for several years now. We love what they do so much we’ve served their sustainable vodka at Tredwells, All’s Well, and now Apricity.
Sapling began making spirits in 2018 from regeneratively grown wheat bought from Wild Farmed. In this way their mission matches our own - to restore our earth while enjoying food, drink, and fun.
Using a unique farming method, the wheat grows in meadows amongst wildflowers and grasses. The ripe ears are harvested when they reach above the flowers, leaving everything beneath to grow. Nature can regenerate, and the soil retains its goodness for the next crop. The resulting grain creates an incredibly smooth vodka with a fun and dynamic flavour profile - slightly sweet, with a hint of vanilla.
But Sapling’s climate positive impact extends beyond the fields. With each bottle sold, they promote reforestation by planting a sapling fruit tree in rural communities across the globe. While the trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere, the communities can sell the fruits in their local markets, providing work, income and stimulating the local economy. Sapling also delivers their vodka to us in eco boxes rather than bottles, further reducing our carbon footprint.
With their focus on regeneration and generosity, Sapling embodies the very meaning of Apricity. So, we’re proud to bring you this vodka from these industry leaders in sustainable spirit production.
