At Alara we have spent over 30 years working out and implementing how we can create a sustainable food production system.
It’s our challenge to ourselves that fulfilling these foundational elements of sustainability makes us the most sustainable food manufacturer on earth.
This divides into four ‘pillars’ of Sustainability:

Environmental

Economic

Social

Governance


Economic
The next fundamental pillar of sustainability is the economic foundation. The measure we use is ‘cash on delivery’ or C.O.D. This means we do not have a creditor ledger and pay for all of our goods and services on delivery and approval.
We do this for three reasons:
Firstly, it values food properly. Before Alex Smith started Alara, he lived for a year without using any money, but he found it was impossible to live without food. This taught him that food is a much more valuable commodity than money is.
Secondly, cash flow is the reality of all business. We exist as a food business in a bio-diverse network of both suppliers and customers. Valuing, appreciating and supporting our suppliers is a key step for us to establish valued relationships with them.
Lastly, we use C.O.D to encourage us as a business to minimise ‘economic’ waste. We can’t rely on our suppliers to provide us with cash flow to cover us when we make mistakes. This means we have to carefully consider opportunities before we take them on.

Social
The social pillar of Sustainability is understanding, appreciating and valuing the community in which the business is based. We do this by hosting great parties to encourage community engagement . The Camley Street Harvest Party is an annual event that hosts up to 1000 guests. All food, drink and entertainment at the party is entirely free. We use food from the Alara Permaculture Garden around the factory and engage with other neighbouring food businesses to contribute. Many amazing developments have sprung from the party, not least, our amazing plan to develop the most sustainable urban development in the world in King’s Cross.

Governance
Governance is the formal relationship that Alara has with society. Everyday, 250000 people eat food from our factory – This is a very privileged and intimate trust that customers have with the business. To reinforce this trust, we have decided to publish all of these audits on our website. This offers a review of the hygiene, quality and ethics of the business.
Related page: Audits