We’re committed to making luxury eco friendly gifts.
Four rules within our business govern our approach to ethics and the environment at The Gift of Cake:
Quality
Handmade, top quality. No compromises on using the best ingredients. No artificial colours or flavours.
Only the best quality packaging. The customer comes first. We strive to give 1st Class service.
Privacy
We don’t store credit card details and we promise not to pass on your email address or postal address to third parties (except for delivery purposes). See our privacy policy here
Sustainability
We recognise there is a climate emergency and we believe that business must lead the way in tackling the crisis. This means a fundamental shift in business philosophy. Traditionally, profit was the top priority for business. From now on this must change. We will put the environment before profit. Sustainability is what matters more than anything else. This is our philosophy. We don’t believe in ‘mission statements’ (they’re usually just corporate window-dressing); the finest words and aims are useless unless backed up by real and effective actions.
Below are the actions we are taking to fight the emergency. All of them come at a financial cost, which means all of them reduce our profit, but we are convinced they are the right thing to do. We’re committed to selling eco friendly gifts and luxury eco gifts.
Reducing Carbon Emissions
- Buying Local. We try to source our packaging and our food ingredients locally to reduce transport miles. For example, we could buy our beautiful cake tins in China – it would certainly save us money – but instead, we buy them from a supplier in London. We want to avoid the pollution and emissions involved in shipping from the other side of the world. And we want to support UK industry where we can. Wherever possible we buy our food ingredients locally from UK farmers, as explained here.
Packaging for Recycling
- Metal Cake Tins. Unlike plastic, or even cardboard, metal can be recycled multiple times without any deterioration in its properties. Our beautiful cake tins are having the ‘recycle’ message embossed on. The tins are made in the UK using solar power. Read about the amazing company that makes the tins here.
- Paper & Cardboard. Our gift boxes and gift-wrap tissue paper are all fully recyclable. We only sell eco friendly gifts and we won’t compromise.
Eradicating Single Use Plastics
- Our Plastics Pledge: To have stopped using all oil-based single-use plastics by the end of 2023.
- Foam Chips. When we pack our cakes for delivery we pad them with foam ‘chips’ which look like expanded polystyrene. But they’re not plastic! They’re made from corn starch and are completely biodegradable. Read about them here.
- Plastic Sealing Tape. We have moved to paper-based tape.
- Plastic Bags. These are vital to ensure hygienic delivery of cake. But we are moving from oil-based polythene to biodegradable bags made from plant-based polymer.
- Ribbons & Bows. Currently made from polyester, these are being replaced by good old-fashioned cotton ribbon.
It’s work in progress, and we’ve still got a little way to go, but our cake gifts will soon be completely plastic free.
Quality – Privacy – Charity – Sustainability