Our planet is facing climate and biodiversity crises. Meaningful action can be slow - often because it is expensive. We believe that the urgency of this challenge justifies a significant investment to speed up vital action.
Launched in 2022, the Riverford Planet Fund is our bold new commitment to building a more sustainable world. We've ring-fenced a significant portion of our profits from this year onwards to invest in Riverford Planet Action - fighting climate change, encouraging biodiversity, and supporting better ways of farming for the future.
About the fund
We've seeded our Planet Fund with an initial £1.8 million from our 2020/21 profits, and committed to invest more every year.
This commitment goes beyond money. We've put Planet Action at the heart of all business decisions, and invested in brilliant in-house experts to research, drive, and support change. The fund, its ground-breaking projects, and broader sustainability across Riverford are all overseen by our devoted Sustainability Team.
What we're investing in
Given the urgency of the climate crisis, our #1 priority is projects which neutralise greenhouse gas emissions in our operations. We've committed to remove or (where that really isn't possible) offset all CO2 emissions under Riverford's control by 2030.
We'll also be funding projects which meet our broader sustainability aims:
- Supporting sustainable methods of farming and food production.
- Encouraging biodiversity
- Enabling a faster shift to renewable energy.
- Trialling and implementing green technologies.
- Offsetting any residual CO2 emissions that cannot be reduced.
- Helping our local communities.
Some of these investments will be within Riverford (such as biodiversity surveys on our own farmland) - other investments will be in partnership with charities, fellow farmers and food producers, or our community.
Read exactly what we're investing in over at the Riverford Planet Action project page.
What doesn't qualify for this funding?
Our founding values mean that we expect all of our activities to meet very high environmental standards. Solar panels, electric vehicles, or compostable packaging; these are all ‘business as usual' for us, and we're investing in them separately.
The Riverford Planet Fund is for major new projects that go beyond business as usual, which couldn't happen without this exceptional investment.
For our work to make your deliveries sustainable every day, visit our broader sustainability page.
