Mission Statement
Here at LittlePod, we have provided high-quality natural ingredients to home cooks, professional chefs and food manufacturers since 2010. Nestled amongst the rolling hills of East Devon on England’s beautiful Jurassic Coast, we are here to tell the story of REAL vanilla.
Here at LittlePod, we strive to:
- Create innovative products and promote exciting new ways to use vanilla and other natural ingredients in the kitchen.
- Inform consumers of the many diverse and different applications of vanilla, and all the processes that are involved in its responsible cultivation.
- Support the farming communities in the world’s Equatorial regions who are reliant on vanilla as their main source of income and who help protect and preserve the fragile ecosystems where vanilla is grown.
LittlePod remains true to its founding principles: Quality, Innovation, Education and Sustainability.
We campaign for REAL vanilla.
LittlePod cares for...
Education:
- We launched our Campaign for Real Vanilla in 2010 to inform and educate consumers and highlight vanilla’s value to the planet. This still underpins all our efforts.
- Having designated October 17th as International Real Vanilla Day, we spread the word on a global scale each autumn with LittlePodders all over the world.
- Janet Sawyer MBE BEM, LittlePod’s Managing Director and Founder, continues to give educational talks and demonstrations across the UK and has written two books.
- We are committed to training and upskilling our team. We have supported numerous apprentices and interns and encourage CPD and workplace training opportunities.
Environment:
- We have established the LittlePod collaborative orchard in Indonesia. Our farmers use a pioneering system of polyculture to increase biodiversity, improve soil fertility and regenerate the natural rainforest environment.
- The development of our natural vanilla paste gives value to all the farmers’ pods – even the wonky ones that would otherwise have been discarded. This innovative product makes using real vanilla easier and more affordable.
- We are keeping our environmental footprint to a minimum with our eco-friendly HQ in East Devon, our fleet of electric vehicles and our commitment to recycling, reusing and minimising our waste.
- We have gone to great lengths to make our packaging as environmentally-friendly as possible. The result is that all our packaging can now be recycled.
Community:
- Over 15 years we have established a global network of LittlePodders – people who are passionate about our products and support our efforts all over the world. These include Michelin-starred chefs, home bakers, food manufacturers and more.
- We continue to support Dr Vik Mohan and his healthcare and conservation work with communities in the world’s Equatorial regions. 10% of all our online sales are donated to support Vik’s important work with Planet Indonesia.
- We deal direct with the LittlePod farmers in Indonesia and maintain a network of trusted producers and partners in other vanilla-growing regions on the Equatorial Belt, including Tanzania, Madagascar and more.
- We support the local arts in East Devon and are active and engaged with our community. We love to keep it local and to give our backing to like-minded businesses, schools and other organisations and individuals.
Ethics:
- Our products are responsibly-sourced. We have long-established and reliable supply chains and have detailed knowledge of the provenance of our products and how, and by who, they are produced.
- We are committed to ethical marketing and our communications are honest, truthful and transparent. We adhere to strict GDPR, data protection and privacy policies and ensure we are compliant with the latest legislation.
- We maintain a near-zero complaints record. We take customer service seriously and pride ourselves the close relationships that we have built.
- Our Campaign for Real Vanilla is our number one priority. We are committed to promoting real vanilla first and LittlePod thereafter.
Quality:
- We have SALSA accreditation for our food safety systems and processes. We are subject to a stringent annual audit and our products undergo rigorous and regular testing and review.
- We have won numerous awards since our launch. These include the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2018 and the King’s Award for Enterprise in 2023, both in the Sustainable Development category.
- In 2018 we won the prestigious Board of Trade Award. Twelve months later, we won the Best New Product Award in the Baking Aisle Category at Kosherfest in New Jersey.
- We are proud to carry the Made in Devon kitemark, certified by Trading Standards as part of the national “Buy with Confidence” scheme.
Why is vanilla so important?
Research has shown that, where vanilla is planted, biodiversity is increased. Encouraging vanilla farmers and preserving the rainforest regions is crucial to the health of our planet, benefiting us all.