Sustainability

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We all have a responsibility to take care of the planet, and that’s why at Lola’s we’re committed to being as sustainable as we possibly can be, in order to reduce the impact that our bakery has. Whilst we recognise there is so much more that we can do, we wanted to share some of the positive steps we have taken so far. We are on a mission to clean up the baking industry.

Our People Planet Promise, sets out our commitment to our hard working team at Lola's, and how we will approach decisions, to ensure we are putting the planet first.

Improvements in our Bakery

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Responsible Sourcing:
We are committed to sourcing high-quality ingredients, and continue to make improvements within our supply chain, to produce the best quality cakes for people and the planet.

Refill to Reduce:
We looked at our supply chain and managed to significantly reduce the number of oil cans we were using in our bakery by switching to larger refillable plastic drums. We are saving 60 large drums a week, which were being recycled or going to landfill.

Planet Safe Supplies:
We use thousands of piping bags each week, which were produced from plastic. In 2024 we switched to bio degradable piping bags across our entire bakery.

Designing Out Waste:
To cut down on excess packaging, we’ve designed handles into all our cake boxes, removing the need for an additional bag and reducing paper

Reducing Paper:
Our new scanning system in the bakery has allowed us to print less, which has in turn saved 1000 pages of paper daily.

Tackling Food Waste Cake:
We have worked with City Harvest since 2022 donating spare cupcake sponges or cake bases that have risen too big or too small. We send boxes every couple of days and over the years we have donated thousands of cupcakes. Working with City Harvest helps us reduce our food waste and support people who really need it delivering to food banks, hostels, schools & community centres.

View our latest sustainability update

@lolas_cupcakes Happy Earth Day! 🌍 🧁 We are committed at Lola’s to sharing our mission of creating sustainable and responsible treats with our People Planet Promise, meaning that every bite is a step towards a greener tomorrow. Join us in our delicious journey towards sustainability! #EarthDay #sustainability ♬ original sound - Lola’s Cupcakes

Sustainability Officer

In my role as Sustainability Officer, I’ve been able to pinpoint areas in which we can make positive changes in the way we do things, to be kinder to the planet whilst still doing what we do best - creating delicious cakes.

I also run a quarterly programme of sustainability activities open to all team members across every department. Previous sessions have included tours of recycling centres such as Bywaters and TRAID, volunteer days, zero-waste workshops, and seasonal gardening sessions in our bakery garden.

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Nature-Friendly Farming

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We’ve always baked with the finest ingredients to make cakes and cupcakes that taste as good as they look. Now, we’ve taken one more step to make them even kinder to the planet - by baking with regenerative flour, lovingly grown and milled by Cotswolds Flour’s very own farmers, Ed and Bertie.

What’s regenerative flour?
It’s made from wheat grown using farming methods that restore soil health, boost biodiversity, and capture carbon, helping to heal the earth while creating exceptional flour.

So every bite of your favourite Lola’s treat still delivers that same irresistible taste with the added feel-good factor of supporting British farming that’s better for the planet.

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Packaging

Almost all our cupcake, brownie and cake boxes are fully recyclable. We do use plastic in the packaging of our Gluten Free range since this product must be pre-packed in a safe environment and be visible for sale. We also use plastic trays for our mini cupcakes as they are very fragile and need extra support on their journey.

We've been engaging with our packaging suppliers, and currently most of our paper packaging come from India, where small scale farmers are given seeds for free, and over a period of 4 years grow tree's. The farmers are then given a fair price for the timber, before it’s mulched ready for board.

We are continuing on our journey to challenge our ingredients suppliers to find better ways to send us raw ingredients that are in planet friendly packaging, or working with them to return this packaging to be re-used.

Circularity
For our postal cakes and cupcakes we include a free returns label to help customers return the thermal liner & dry ice bags back to our bakery to be cleaned & used again. The thermal liner is made from post-manufacturing denim waste and plastic bottles and helps keep our postal items safe and cool during transit.

We've also switched from dry-ice to part dry-ice, part gel ice, which can be sent back to us and used again. For our postal orders, we include a free returns label so customers can send the thermal liner and ice packs back to our bakery, where they are cleaned and reused.

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It’s Electric!

Since 2019, we have been using electric vehicles to deliver some of our cakes. We fitted solar panels to the roofs of the van's to take advantage of the free energy from the sun, to power the on-board fridges.

As of 2026, 71% of our delivery fleet is electric and producing zero emissions to deliver our cakes!

Our Transport team, love the electric van's they are comfortable to drive, quiet and most of all pollution free.

Our Stores

Our carts found in the underground stations of London, are produced in Sheffield and made from a recycled plastic worktop and use low voltage refrigeration equipment, to reduce energy consumption. Digital screens have been phased in, as replacements for our paper menu boards, saving ink and resources.

The biggest contribution to waste in our stores was plastic gloves. We have now replaced these with cupcake tongs developed internally by one of our team members. When we are designing and building our stores, we are always conscious of using low impact materials, and fit lighting systems that are timer controlled to ensure no lights are left on overnight unnecessarily.

Lastly, we have taken an 'up-cycle' approach to many of our stores and carts, and always prefer to enhance and improve, as opposed to a total refurbishment.

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Our Stores

Championing circular design
All of our stores are designed and built in the UK. In our cafe style stores you’ll also find our seating is actually made from recycled yoghurt pots, produced by Smile Plastics in London.

Their mission is to change people’s perceptions around waste through innovation and to unlock the hidden potential in recycling and the unexpected beauty of ‘waste materials’.

We have taken an 'up-cycle' approach to many of our stores and carts, and always prefer to enhance and improve, as opposed to a total refurbishment.

Reducing plastic waste
The biggest contribution to waste in our stores was plastic gloves. We save up to 1 million gloves from landfill a year with a tong specially designed to fit our cupcakes, developed internally by one of our team members, to reduce glove usage and plastic waste in store.

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Building Smart Stores
When we are designing and building our stores, we are always conscious of using low impact materials, and fit lighting systems that are timer controlled to ensure no lights are left on overnight unnecessarily.

In 2022 we launched our first retail store that is ‘unplugged’ from the electricity grid, and therefore relying only on solar panels on the roof to provide energy for the fridges, lights and till systems. We hope that this is something we can replicate for stores in the future. Watch the video to see how we did it, with our sustainable energy partner Next Day Solar.

Collection Lockers

Our Lola’s collection lockers have been a great way to collect your treat in a more enviromentally friendly way. The lockers can hold multiple orders, which means our delivery drivers are travelling less miles on the roads and therefore creating less emissions. Also, our lockers have individual refrigerated compartments meaning no power is wasted if a compartment is empty, using the latest Paltier cooling technology.

Friends who help us achieve our goal

Refill UK

We’ve partnered with Refill UK to make 5 of the Lola’s locations designated refill stations. Just ask a member of team and we’ll refill your water bottles for free - so make sure you stay hydrated!

City Harvest

Any leftover cupcake bases from our bakery are donated to City Harvest, a charity who distribute surplus food to those who need it most, including shelters and food banks.

Traid

We partner with TRAID to recycle our old uniforms responsibly, helping to reduce textile waste and give materials a new life. Through this initiative, garments are either reused, repurposed, or recycled, supporting a more circular and sustainable approach to fashion.

City Harvest Video

Share your sustainability ideas?

If you’ve got an idea on how we could be more sustainable then get in touch with us here! If we take your idea forward and implement, you'll be handsomely rewarded with delicious (sustainable) cake.