Sustainable food packaging MD awarded MBE

The managing director of pioneering eco-friendly packaging firm Woolcool has won an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Josie Morris, MD, said she hopes the MBE for services to manufacturing and the environment will draw attention to “the remarkable work being done to package and deliver food in a sustainable way”.

“When I received the email from the Cabinet Office I thought it was spam,” Josie said. “I thought recognition such as an MBE was for people who are much further along in their career and who have achieved much more than I have. Once I realised that it was the real thing, I was blown away. It’s a real honour.”

Woolcool’s temperature-controlled packaging is created with 100% real sheep’s wool as an insulator, and thanks to their natural origins, the products are recyclable, compostable, reusable, biodegradable and abundant. Woolcool is used by a number of big names in the food sector, from Abel & Cole to Fortnum and Mason. Recently, the brand also partnered with Speciality Food to deliver fine food products to independent retailers in The Great Stock Giveaway.

The brand, which was founded in 2009, has also gained B Corp certification, meaning it has pledged to put social and environmental impact on the same level as profitability. “We never claim to be perfect,” Josie said. “We are far from it. However, we strive to continually monitor and seek to improve our impact on the planet and people around us. We try to be as transparent in our dealings as possible and, while there is an environmental ethos at our core, we also believe that looking after our people is key to all that we do.

Josie said the MBE was for everyone on the Woolcool team. “The success of Woolcool is down to the collaborative approach we take to our work,” she continued, “whether that’s our own team or the broader family of clients, suppliers, customers or partners.”