Transparent supply chains: why they matter

It’s easy to assume that the journey the food in our fridge takes to get to us consists of a ten-minute drive from the supermarket. However, the foods we eat have more complex stories behind them.

Going through a long and arduous journey to get to us, often from farm, to factory, to processor, to producer to supermarket - from overseas, or the farm down the road, or anything in-between. 

These supply chains are intricate and easily disrupted by events, like the weather, climate change and recently, Brexit, and the Covid 19 pandemic.

Food chains

There is a lot riding on a food’s journey from farm to fork. The journeys’ length determines the freshness of the food – meaning it probably tastes better, and will have kept more of its nutrients by the time it gets to you.

The design and management of a food chain also shapes many other things, including the food’s carbon footprint, how workers are paid and treated, whether the food has been exposed to pesticides, and how it’s priced. 

What’s the benefit of transparency?

Knowing the journey your food has taken is the only way to know it hasn’t caused harm to the local or global environment and populations. Being armed with this information can help you choose more sustainable, ethical and nutritionally rich foods. Furthermore, transparency holds companies accountable, encouraging them to implement more ethical, environmental processes which benefit people + planet.

Are food companies becoming any more transparent?

There is a move towards companies making their supply chains more transparent, since there’s a growing responsibility for all businesses to show the work they’re doing to be as ethical and sustainable as possible, and take more responsibility for their global impact.

At TYME we are passionate about transparency, from suppliers, to transport, to packing, we are committed to making our process the best it can be.

We track the environmental impact of where and how our food gets to you, so you’ll know exactly how you’re helping us to help the planet. 

Collaborating with Foodsteps, we have enabled customers to access our supply chains via a QR code. They can see a product’s carbon footprint, land use, water use and pollution. 

When it comes to food, we try to source locally wherever possible - examples include Harvest London, a hydroponic farm located just a few miles from us in Leytonstone, which supplies our herbs + Hodmedods, a heritage grain + pulse supplier.