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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.
Reducing Power Consumption:
We have begun rolling out smart electrical systems in our retail stores, which can be monitored and timer controlled remotely. This eradicate the wastage of unnecessary electricity. We have installed solar panels on all our electric vans. This means that around 30% of all the energy used to keep cakes cool during transit is from our own green sources.
All About Oil:
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.
Many of our ingredients come in containers and pots that are only suitable for recycling. We are continuing on our journey to challenge our 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, as is the case with our macarons.
Hair/Beard Nets:
In our bakery we use around 1000 per week and are currently trialling a zero waste box, by Terracycle to eliminate them going to landfill. Terracyacle is an amazing recycling company eliminating the idea of waste and they recycle literally anything.
Scan & Print System:
Our new scanning system in the bakery has allowed us to print less, which has in turn saved 1000 pages of paper daily.
Cake Boards:
Whilst our cake boxes were fully recyclable, the cake boards were not, since the foil wrapper was difficult to process. We are proud to have fully replaced all our cake boards for recyclable alternatives.
@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
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.
Almost all our cupcake, brownie and cake boxes are fully recyclable. The only plastic present is within our Gluten Free packaging since this product must be pre-packed in a safe environment and be visible for sale.
We've been engaging with our packaging suppliers, and currently most of our boxes come from India, where small scale farmers are given seeds for free, and over a period of 4 years grow tree's. They are then given a fair price for the timber, before its mulched ready for board. You can read more about our packaging on our recent blog post about this.
We have innovated away from Polystyrene in our nationwide ranges. We are now using thermal insulation made up of recycled/up-cycled clothes, that keeps our product chilled on the way to our customer. This product can be posted back to us using the free returns label, or placed into the garden to home compost. We've also switched from dry-ice to part dry-ice, part gel ice, which can be sent back to us and used again.
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 June 2024, we now have 18 electric delivery vans, and 7 Diesel vans. By 2025, we will have replaced most of the Diesel fleet with electric alternatives.
Our Transport team, love the electric van's they are comfortable to drive, quiet and most of all pollution free.
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 my 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.
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
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.
We’ve partnered with Refill UK to make 11 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!
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.
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.
