Bel & The Dragon puts regeneratively farmed beef on menus

Grassroots is a collective of farmers, founded by Alastair Trickett, James Evans and James Daniel, which provides a supply of beer from farms that have been audited and certified to Grassroots’ regenerative farming standards.

The meat is independently assessed using the Farm Carbon Toolkit, which measures carbon emissions.

It found beef from Grassroots farms produces half the amount of carbon compared with typical beef hers in the UK.

Fuller’s​, which owns Bel & The Dragon, sustainability director Oliver Rosevear said: “I’m so excited to see Grassroots beef on Bel & The Dragon menus.

“Beef accounts for more than a quarter of our Scope 3 carbon emissions so it’s important to look at how we can continue to serve our customers the high-quality dishes they expect while reducing our impact on the planet."

Sustainability journeys

He added: “As an organisation, we have a responsibility to support our customers’ own sustainability journeys by lowering the environmental impact of the food we serve to them.

“We have worked closely with our suppliers for years to always offer our customers high quality beef, which is locally sourced and reared to high animal welfare standards.

“One of our values is always asking what’s next so with this in mind, we started exploring new technologies and practices to help with our journey to net zero. This led to Grassroots and its more sustainable farming practices.

“Fuller’s is committed to achieve net zero on or before 2040 with a commitment to be net zero for operational emissions by 2030.”

He outlined how in 2023, the business joined 27 others to create the Zero Carbon Forum and the partnership with Grassroots was a product of that forum.

Rosevear added: “We saw the amazing work it has done with other companies in our sector and were ken to see if we could make it work at Fuller’s.

“Bel & The Dragon is the perfect group to trial Grassroots beef – six beautiful inns renowned for premium food and drink.

“Not only is Grassroots beef good for the planet but the quality is incredible. As Grassroots beef becomes more readily available to us, we hope to roll it out further across our estate – allowing us to further reduce our carbon emissions.”

Looking ahead

Seeing Grassroots on the menus of Bel & The Dragon pubs was hugely exciting, the collaborative co-founder Alastair Trickett said.

He added: “It marks the culmination of months of hard work to build the business case and design the supply route.

“We’re hugely grateful to the passionate and purposeful leadership within Fuller’s that has made this possible and we hope where Fuller’s leads, others will follow.

“We’re all looking forward to seeing where, within the group, our beef will be served next.”

The Grassroots beef on Bel & The Dragon’s menus is supplied through Thorner’s – a master butchers where cuts of meat are ethically sourced and traceable from sustainable farms.

Thorner’s parent company Hunt’s Food Group commercial director Daniel Snook said: “It’s great to work with Grassroots and Fuller’s to help get more sustainable beef on the menus at Bel & The Dragon.

“We have worked with Fuller’s for a while now and we’re delighted to see sustainability is so important to the business.

“Grassroots beef is a great step for Fuller’s to take on its journey to net zero. We look forward to seeing where our partnership with Fuller’s and Grassroots will take us next.”