15 August 2024
Radnor Hills … it’s in our nature
We’re a soft drinks manufacturer and we’ve been based in the beautiful Welsh countryside in Powys for over 34 years.
Founded by William Watkins, a fifth-generation farmer, we produce over 400 million drinks a year – that’s over 12 products every second.
We provide Birchall Foodservice with a range of still, sparkling and deliciously flavoured drinks all made with the exceptionally pure spring water naturally sourced from our boreholes.These include Heartsease Farm Sparkling Premium Presse, Radnor Hills Sparkling and Still Water, Radnor Splash, Radnor Fruits and Radnor Fizz in a variety of flavours and packaging formats.
Well, everything is made for our customers by a dedicated team who are passionate about the values of sustainable manufacturing.
Not only do we care about the environment, but the very roots of our business are based in nature. We source our natural Welsh spring water directly from the ground that we stand on. Being this close to nature means protecting the world we live in for future generations is right at the heart of everything we do.
How we do it
We’re proud to have achieved a number of environmental milestones over the years.
These include:- Our manufacturing site in the heart of the Radnorshire countryside has sent zero waste to landfill since 2018.
- We have our own on-site state-of-the-art recycling facility and an expert in-house team to facilitate this. Any waste we can’t recycle is put into a compactor and sent for RDF (Refused Derived Fuel).
- Operating as zero to landfill also means that we can support a circular economy, sending any waste back to the source to be reused and recycled.
- We make sure that all of our products are fully recyclable. Our plastic bottles and shrink wraps are 100% recyclable and they’re also made up of 30% recycled materials. Plus our cartons are straw free too.
- Our aluminium cans have the highest recycling rate with each can being infinitely recyclable and sourced only 65 miles from our farm in Wales.
- At the end of 2023, we added to our existing rooftop panels, and opened a brand new £1.8 million solar farm, which produces 2,000 kWh of power a year, meaning 25% of our factory is now powered by the sun.
- Our company management system has been certified to ISO 14001 standard, showing our customers and suppliers that we take our impact on the environment seriously and we’re committed to keeping it at the forefront of our business.
- We have planted more than 14,000 trees, symbolising our dedication to a greener future.
- As well as our non-negotiable commitment to the environment, we’re supportive of our community. We are proud to donate over 250,000 products every year and we support a number of amazing charities including the Pink Ribbon Foundation, the Anti-Bullying Alliance, Prostate Cymru and St Michael’s Hospice.
- Last year, we became the first winner of the Excellence in Sustainability Award sponsored by the Welsh Government, while this May, we won Wales Food and Drink Award’s Sustainable Business of the Year.
We’re passionate about working sustainably to protect and enhance our environment and the planet and are continuously working to become more sustainable, to recycle everything we can and to look after the local environment.
Our production site just outside Knighton has lines which manage glass, PET, cans and Tetra Pak. This multi-format facility means we can significantly reduce onward transport costs and energy use, offering a true basket of products for our wholesalers and retailers, all from one collection point – our zero to landfill site in Powys.
