HOW FULLER'S TACKLED THEIR BEEFY FOOTPRINT

01/05/2025

Fuller’s, the iconic pubs and hotels business, is known for its fresh food, warm hospitality and passionate people. But behind the scenes, the company has been taking bold steps to tackle its environmental impact, starting with one of the biggest culprits on the menu: beef. With food making up half of its Scope 3 emissions, and beef accounting for a fifth of that, Fuller’s recognised the need for a smarter, more sustainable approach. Working in partnership with supply chain experts, Grassroots Farming, and the Zero Carbon Forum, they’ve reimagined how beef is sourced, prepared and served across their estate. The result? A solution that’s better for the planet, for producers, and for customers.

HOW FULLER'S TACKLED THEIR BEEFY FOOTPRINT

USE IT ALL

CARBON SAVINGS

A flexible, creative menu is a chef’s (and the planet’s) best friend, helping to use every part of the animal.

SHORTEN SUPPLY CHAINS

Shorter, localised supply chains don’t just cut emissions; they also build trust and transparency.

COLLABORATE

Collaboration across the supply chain is crucial to overcoming challenges and making sustainable practices stick.

WHO ARE FULLER'S?

Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC ("Fuller's") is a premium pubs and hotels business, known for its warm hospitality, freshly prepared food, vibrant drinks, and passionate people. With 185 managed pubs and hotels, 1,025 boutique bedrooms, and 153 Tenanted Inns, the estate stretches from Brighton to Birmingham and Bristol to the Greenwich Peninsula.

The portfolio includes well-known brands such as Cotswold Inns & Hotels, Bel & The Dragon, and Lovely Pubs – each offering distinctive, high-quality experiences. Fuller’s is dedicated to creating welcoming spaces where everyone leaves a little happier than when they arrived.

THE CHALLENGE

Fuller’s faced a rather meaty challenge: their beef. Turns out, around 9% of their total carbon footprint was coming from their beef supply chain. To break it down, their Scope 3 emissions (which account for 80-90% of their overall footprint) were heavily influenced by food, making up 50% of those emissions. Of that, a juicy 20% was down to beef.

But it wasn’t just about emissions. The beef supply chain has a tricky little puzzle called the carcass balance problem. In the traditional model, high-demand cuts like ribeye or burgers are cherry-picked, leaving less popular cuts languishing. This inefficiency not only leads to waste but also misses an opportunity to do things more sustainably. Fuller’s needed a solution that worked for the planet and their plate.

THE SOLUTION

Enter the partnership between Fuller’s and a sustainable supply chain specialist Grassroots Farming. Together, they cooked up a new approach to beef sourcing that’s as innovative as it is planet-friendly:

Regenerative
All Grassroots farms use regenerative farming practices that work with nature to restore soil health, boost biodiversity, and cut on-farm emissions. These methods reduce the need for fertilisers and promote healthier ecosystems. To measure impact, Grassroots uses the Farm Carbon Toolkit - a third-party certification that shows a 52% reduction in emissions compared to standard UK beef.
Carcass Balance, Sorted:
Fuller’s embraced a "nose-to-tail" philosophy, making sure every cut of the cow found a home on their menus. From "steak of the day" specials to pies and burgers, the chefs were encouraged to get creative and diversify the menu.
A Local Supply Chain:
Beef was sourced from farms around the UK, processed at a southern abattoir, and sent to one of Fuller’s specialist butchers and pie makers, Thorner’s (part of Hunt’s Food Group), who worked closely with the pubs to ensure the supply matched their needs. This streamlined system reduced waste and kept everything transparent.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work:
Collaboration was the secret ingredient. Farmers, butchers, chefs, and suppliers were all part of the process, ironing out any challenges and ensuring the project ran smoothly.

KEY BENEFITS AND RESULTS

Carbon Savings

In the sites where Fuller’s served the beef, they halved the carbon footprint of their beef supply chain, significantly reducing their overall emissions.

Scaling Up

Following the success of the initial rollout, Fuller’s plans to expand the programme to more sites in the coming months.

Sustainability Done Right

By tackling the carcass balance problem and reducing inefficiencies, Fuller’s proved that sustainability doesn’t have to come at the expense of quality or creativity. They’ve set a high bar for the hospitality industry.

THE ROLE OF THE ZERO CARBON FORUM

Fuller’s didn’t tackle this challenge alone. With support from the Zero Carbon Forum, they zeroed in on the areas that mattered most. Using their Footprint and Carbon Action Plan, it became clear: the menu was a major hotspot, and beef was a big slice of it, which meant looking at their suppliers became a key priority.

The Forum’s tools helped Fuller’s focus their efforts, especially when it came to working with the right suppliers. That’s where GrassRoots Farming came in. First spotted through a presentation at our All Members Meeting, then highlighted in the Zero Carbon Marketplace, GrassRoots Farming showed there was a better way to serve up the kind of quality customers expect, with a much lower carbon footprint.

A Board Masterclass, delivered by the Forum team, helped reinforce the opportunity. It brought the data to life, showing where targeted action could deliver real emissions reductions without losing the essence of what makes Fuller’s pubs so successful. The leadership team were quick to act, committing to a focused approach: tackle the biggest hotspots, work with the right partners, and keep the customer experience front and centre.

Fuller’s joined the Zero Carbon Forum nearly five years ago as part of our Net Zero commitments. The support we’ve had as a member has been invaluable – as well as support from the team at the Zero Carbon Forum, we have been inspired by our colleagues from across the sector. We joined nearly 30 fellow hospitality businesses to create the Roadmap for Hospitality to Net Zero – supported by the Zero Carbon Forum – to offer advice and guidance across the industry on reaching Net Zero targets. We continue to work with the Zero Carbon Forum on initiatives across our business to help us on our path to Net Zero and are delighted to see strong results.

Oliver Rosevear

Director Of Sustainability, Fuller, Smith and Turner PLC

By rethinking how beef gets from farm to fork, Fuller’s has shown that even the biggest carbon challenges can be tackled with a dash of creativity, a sprinkle of collaboration, and a hearty serving of determination.

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