apetito, the UK’s leading food producer to the Health, Social Care, Care Homes, and Education Sectors, has been honoured with the UK’s highest business accolade, The King’s Awards for Enterprise, Sustainable Development.
Wiltshire-based apetito which incorporates its subsidiary, home meals delivery company Wiltshire Farm Foods, is one of an elite number of companies which over the past two decades have won multiple Enterprise awards in both Innovation and Sustainable Development. 2024 sees the company’s fourth Royal’ honour, having previously won three Queen’s Awards for Enterprise (two for Innovation in 2005 and 2016, and one in 2019 for Sustainable Development).
This year, it is one of 252 organisations nationally to be awarded a prestigious King’s Awards for Enterprise, with 29 businesses being recognised for their work in Sustainable Development.
The Award recognises apetito’s commitment to conducting business in a way that impacts positively on the environment, society, and economy. In particular it celebrates apetito’s commitment to sustainability, its ambition to reach Net Zero by 2040, and its work in taking concrete actions to meet challenging short-term targets for carbon reduction and supporting climate change – targets which are validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI).
At the heart of this recognition lies ‘Project Boomerang,’ a pioneering sustainability initiative, launched through Wiltshire Farm Foods. The ground-breaking project focuses on the company’s ready-meal deliveries to the homes of the elderly and vulnerable and features the world’s first closed-loop recycling systems for plastic meal trays on an industrial scale. Not only does the Awards recognise apetito’s sector leading achievement of closed loop production it also referenced the company’s pivotal role in shaping Government policy and driving advancements in recycling practices.
CEO & Chair of apetito UK & North America, Paul Freeston, underscores that this win was a reflection of the extraordinary teamwork and values that are shared from top to bottom within the business:
“We are proud, honoured and delighted to have been recognised in The King’s Awards for Enterprise: Sustainable Development 2024. It epitomises the collective hard work, dedication, and vision of our entire team.
“All of us at apetito are passionate about ‘making a real difference’ to people’s lives and we believe our commitment to sustainable development reflects this. Sustainability informs not just the way we work, but how we treat people, the impact on the environment and our contribution to the economy. Leading from the top, we’ve worked to embed this belief into the fabric of the whole business. Put simply, we believe it’s the right way to do business”
apetito employs 1900 staff and has traded since 1928. It embodies strong social values and is a founder member of the Real Living wage Foundation. All its products are carbon footprinted and it leads the way across the industry, whether in its sourcing of sustainable ingredients, in food waste reduction and investment into every aspect of its operations to reduce emissions.
The King’s Awards for Enterprise, previously known as The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, were renamed last year to reflect His Majesty The King’s desire to continue the legacy of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s by recognising outstanding UK businesses. The Awards celebrate the success of exciting and innovative businesses which are leading the way with pioneering products or services, delivering impressive social mobility programmes, or showing their commitment to excellent sustainable development practices.
The Award programme, now in its 58th year, is the most prestigious business award in the country, with successful businesses able to use the esteemed King’s Awards Emblem for the next five years.
