Greene King Is Sourcing More Sustainable Fresh Fruit and Vegetables After Taking Airfreighted Produce off Its Pub Menus as Part of Its Journey Towards Net Zero

Greene King, the country’s leading pub company and brewer, is removing airfreighted fresh fruit and vegetables from its menus as it continues on its sustainability journey.

Fresh fruit and vegetable produce is one of the more complex supply chains and the company’s third largest buying category by spend.

Greene King’s procurement teams, supply chain and food development teams have worked hard with suppliers to achieve zero air freighted items across all menus at Greene King’s 1,600 managed pubs from Autumn/Winter 2025.

Annually, Greene King uses over 9m kg of fresh produce. The top three highest quantity of products used are potatoes (2m kg), lettuce and cucumber.

In collaboration with its supplier, Fresh Direct, future airfreight has been removed by working with food development teams to create menus which do not feature ingredients that can only be airfreighted and by liaising with producers to source alternative sea or road transport.

For example, Fresh Direct has now sourced herbs including basil and chives through British suppliers or by road freight, as opposed to supplying airfreighted produce. Other menu items are substituted periodically if there is no alternative to airfreight, such as tenderstem broccoli to purple sprouting broccoli, and some fruits such as pomegranates, passion fruit and strawberries.

Greene King’s chief operating officer, Clair Preston-Beer said: “This is a good example of our menu development team and supply chain team working together with suppliers to reduce our carbon footprint through using different ingredients or ensuring produce is transported by an alternative method to airfreight. Our menus feature pub classics and contemporary dishes, and they evolve to meet changing customers tastes and make the most of the ingredients available to us in the best ways. We continue to look at our daily operations, working with our suppliers and offering our customers sustainable choices as we progress towards net zero.”

Fresh Direct’s managing director, Andy Pembroke said: “We’re delighted to be supporting such a progressive operator as Greene King, which shares our passion for providing the best of the season’s produce, with a particular focus on top quality British food. Working in partnership, we support them to create fantastic menus that celebrate fresh seasonal produce.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS 

Greene King is the country’s leading pub company and brewer with c.2,600 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland. 

At Greene King we are passionate about delivering our purpose to ‘pour happiness into lives’. That’s for our customers, our team, our pub partners, our suppliers and the communities in which we live, operate and serve. Founded in 1799 with offices in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk and Burton on Trent in Staffordshire we employ around 40,000 people across the group with three divisions: Greene King pubs, Destination Brands & Ventures, and Brewing & Brands.  

• Greene King pubs: Greene King pubs is our mainstream pub brand located where people and communities come together; pubs enjoyed in cities, towns and villages throughout the country with clear ambition to be “The Nation’s Most Loved Pub Brand”. Pub Partners runs our tenanted and leased pubs business and Hive and Nest franchise pubs.  

• Destination Brands & Ventures: Destination Brands is a portfolio of distinct brands which includes Hungry Horse, Chef & Brewer, Farmhouse Inns and Flaming Grill that bring friends and family together, delivering great service, quality and value for money for a range of eating out and drinking occasions. Venture includes Hickory’s, Premium (Crafted Pubs & Metropolitan Pub Company) and Hotels which operate autonomously of Greene King’s managed pub brands.    

• Brewing & Brands covers the brewing sides of the business. Quality ales are brewed at the Westgate brewery in Bury St Edmunds and the Belhaven Brewery in Dunbar. Our industry-leading portfolio includes Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale, Ice Breaker and Belhaven Best and our premium beers, Level Head and Flint Eye, brewed for the modern-day drinker.

Greene King is embedding more sustainable ways of working across all aspects of the business through an environment and social strategy, supporting our communities and reducing environmental impact. We have a net zero target of 2040 and a near-term target to halve all greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Through our Greene King for Good programme, we are working collaboratively with suppliers and businesses, making operational improvements and offering customers sustainable choices.

Contact: Greene King Press Office PressOffice@greeneking.co.uk

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