Stroud Brewery’s pioneering approach to combining brewing and sustainability received national recognition this week at the SIBA Business Awards.
Founder and managing director, Greg Pilley (pictured), and a small delegation from the brewery, accepted the Sustainability Award at BeerX, in Liverpool.
When Greg set up the brewery, more than 18 years ago, sustainability wasn’t at the forefront of business considerations in the brewing sector.
“I’ve got a background in wildlife conservation and spent five years studying the role of locally-brewed alcoholic drinks in African communities,” said Greg.
“This experience meant that, from the early days, the brewery’s role within the local community, its ethics, and its impact on the environment mattered to me.”
The brewery is now an inspiring business model, showing how the corporate world can future-proof itself. It successfully combines its commercial activities with responsibility towards people and the planet.
‘Sustainability can be fun and a win-win for everyone’
“I think the judges were impressed by the wealth of sustainability features we’ve incorporated into our day-to-day operations, our holistic approach, and the whole ethos of the business” said Greg of the award. “We looked at all aspects of our operations and tried to find better, more efficient ways of doing them.
“We use organic ingredients to brew our beer and in the food we serve, which not only helps wildlife but supports British farmers. Our spent malt gets recycled locally as cattle feed, we’ve put bat roosting and bird nesting boxes under the eaves of the building, 70% of our suppliers are within a 50-mile radius, and we’ve been given the title of Plastic-free Champions by the environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage, for how we’re trying to reduce single-use plastic.
“There are plenty of other things, too, which are catalogued in our Impact Report, kept on our website.”
He added: “And we try to think of imaginative, more fun ways. We give our beer slops to the local volunteer group, Wild Stroud, to help gardeners protect their plants with organic slug traps; we make one of our beers with nettles; and we even flush toilets in the taproom with rainwater harvested from the roof of our building!
“I want people to know that sustainability can be fun and a win-win for everyone.”
