Just Love Food’s carbon reduction journey – their recipe for sustainable growth

With support from the Welsh Government, the allergen-free cake manufacturer developed a Carbon Reduction Plan to better understand its emissions and identify practical opportunities to reduce its environmental impact across the business.

Founded by Michael Woods after his two children were diagnosed with severe allergies, the company has grown from a personal mission into a successful business supplying major UK retailers with allergen-safe celebration cakes and baked goods.

As sustainability becomes an increasingly important consideration for retailers and consumers alike, Just Love Food is committed to reducing emissions while keeping products affordable. The company is also the first business supported through the programme to develop consecutive Carbon Reduction Plans (CRPs), demonstrating its commitment to measuring progress and continuing to identify opportunities for improvement.

By analysing both its 2024 and 2025 data, Just Love Food established a clearer understanding of its carbon footprint and where emissions were being generated across the business. This helped them focus attention on areas where practical changes could have the greatest impact, as Michael explains “I think for me getting over that understanding of where we were at was important. Everyone talks about carbon footprints and you read about it, but if I’m honest, I didn’t understand it until we got on Carbon Reduction Plan.”

“With that understanding in place, we could focus on the areas where we had control and where changes could make a real difference."

Two areas identified for action were waste and transport.

By measuring the volume of waste being generated and understanding its impact, the company was able to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and lower associated emissions.

Transport has also delivered a tangible improvement.  Through changes to packaging and pallet configuration, Just Love Food increased the amount of product transported on each pallet by 25%, reducing the carbon impact of distribution while making better use of available space.

For Michael, finding solutions that make commercial as well as environmental sense is particularly important: 

“You have to be able to demonstrate that these things aren’t adding costs ultimately at the end of the day.” 

“Consumers are finding things challenging at the moment and we've got to do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint while also controlling costs. Thankfully, we've found a couple of areas where that's been really possible."

Perhaps most significantly, Just Love Food recorded an improvement in its carbon footprint in 2025 compared with 2024 despite expanding its oven baking capacity during the reporting period. The experience has also helped make carbon reduction a more tangible part of everyday business decision-making. By understanding its emissions and concentrating on achievable changes, the company is demonstrating how sustainability and business growth can work alongside one another.

Michael encourages other businesses, particularly SMEs without dedicated sustainability resources, to make use of the support available,

"Having got on that programme and understood where we're at, I would encourage other people to do it, especially small and medium-sized businesses where you haven't necessarily got the resource to do it yourself and do it well."

For Just Love Food, carbon reduction is becoming part of how the business operates and grows, helping it identify efficiencies, reduce its environmental impact and make informed decisions for the future.

Improve your sustainability practices with our Carbon Reduction Pilot. Get expert guidance and support by emailing SustainableFD@gov.wales with “Carbon Reduction Plans Pilot” in the subject line.