Honeybuns’ Sourcing Policy

Emma Goss-Custard, 30.01.07

Q1: Why write a sourcing policy?

A: At Honeybuns, we passionately discuss current food issues and their impact on small, artisan food producers and the consumer. We feel that "expert opinions" are often over simplified and are voiced by those who have not necessarily been involved in food production at a hands on level.

Current hot potatoes in our industry include: using local suppliers, organic status & low food miles..... plus lots more.

To be thinking about such issues must be a positive thing. On the other hand, to focus just on these handy headlines would be to underestimate the many plates that food producers need to spin. By explaining our sourcing policy, it is our hope that we can shed some light upon the choices we make and why.

Food very often seems to be presented in the media as a highly emotive subject. For instance, if a producer is not organic, they are often deemed to be second rate. If a producer is not using their nearest supplier for a certain ingredient the knee jerk reaction is to blame the producer for being disloyal. Hopefully, with the following FAQs and answers we can give an insight into the small producer's world.

Q2: Why don't you use the local egg supplier who is the closest to your bakery & reduce food miles?

A: We do in fact use a local free-range egg supplier, and we have been delighted with their service and quality. They are based 5 miles away from us. True, there are a number of egg suppliers who are even closer to us in miles but they have not been the best choice of supplier for Honeybuns. Issues that have arisen from other egg suppliers include: dirty eggshells, inconsistent pricing & the lack of suitable Quality Assurance paperwork.

Sometimes it feels like the media only see above the water line. In reality, the food producer is paddling away like BillyO to make sure all criteria are met by each ingredient supplier before deciding who to buy from.

In the past we have also had quality issues with a local butter supplier who we can no longer use for this reason.

Quality of the produce, traceability, organic status, quality of service, food miles and price all form part of the equation.

Q3: Why aren't you organic?

A: We do not have organic certification, although we do use a number of organic ingredients in our products. Again, as with the eggs in Q2, there are several reasons for sometimes using organic ingredients in preference to non organic ones.

For instance, we use an organic icing sugar because we are keen to avoid the artificial caking agent in non organic brands. Our chocolate, however, is non organic. The chocolate supplier we use is absolutely excellent. They are the only manufacturer who can provide us with products which are gluten free (no trace) whilst tasting world class. It so happens that they don't produce an organic version. In this instance, the gluten free verification is vital & outweighs some other considerations.

We feel that some ingredients need to be organic if the non organic version has dodgy additives. Non organic maple syrup can contain formaldehyde (part of treatment process) so we choose to use an organic brand.

Suppliers of some* of our butter, Denhay Farm, are national award winners time and again for their gorgeous products. They are also based in Dorset so we can tick the food miles box. Their ingredients are "clean" so the fact that they are not organic does not deter us from using them.

(*We do not source all of our butter from Denhay, as they cannot supply the volume we need.)

Q4: Have you considered putting the food miles of your products on the packaging?

A: We consider all aspects of our packaging & printed information on a continuous basis. We are slightly unsure as to how a simple food miles number will convey the myriad of variables involved in food transportation. For instance, some of the ingredients we buy in are only produced in far off countries. The organic coconut curls come from Sri Lanka . Are we wrong to buy shipped (never air freighted) coconut from a reputable firm that supports local Sri Lankan farmers? There may come a day where we will have to stop using these luscious foreign ingredients & I guess all we can do is monitor the situation & judge at what point we, as a society, do not want to consume these foods any more.

Similarly, should we just sell to local people in Dorset ? We specialise in making gluten free cakes and are in a niche market. It is true that we sell to non coeliacs too, but we still need to seek our non mass market customers out & get our product to them for Honeybuns to stay profitable. Is it enough that we try to offset as much damage as possible by recycling our waste, encouraging wildlife & raising money for the local community? It possibly is not enough, but we are always willing to question what we do, why we do it & how we do it with a view to improving. Maybe the question we all could ponder is: "How far are we all supposed to take food miles thing?”.

The above FAQs are intended to provide an insight into our sourcing conscience & criteria. We want to make gorgeous cake and are totally in favour of more cups of tea & a slice of something sweet. We do not want to muck up the planet. We want to operate our business in a responsible way and have fun. As with many things in life, we concede that to achieve our aims we need to put constant effort into maintaining some kind of balance. We all make qualitative judgments both consciously & subconsciously every day. For instance "If I drive to visit my friend in hospital, am I an eco sinner?". It is no simpler in the world of food.

By being transparent about the choices Honeybuns make we hope this will be a springboard to better ways of doing things.

We are not just about baking cakes....we really are trying to do good. If you have any comments or suggestions, we'd be delighted to hear from you. Please e-mail thebee@honeybuns.co.uk.

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