Sustainability at MayHawk
We’re committed to designing our products and processes with intent — innovating, investing and choosing materials that increase self-sufficiency, encourage recycling, and support long-term sustainability.
We’re in it for the long haul
We see sustainability as a long term investment for the future of our company and the ecosystems we source our ingredients and materials from.
Sustainable Growth
“We want to work with ingredients and materials that can be continually produced without further depleting the earth’s natural resources”. Conner, Founder of MayHawk.
Within our supply chain, we support the regeneration of existing cacao plantations over expansion into new rainforest regions and the further deforestation this expansion causes.
At MayHawk, we also prioritise the use of recycled and responsibly sourced materials in our packaging. Wherever possible, we choose materials with a lower environmental impact and work to reduce reliance on virgin resources across our supply chain.
We are also evaluating ways to reduce indirect emissions through renewable energy use and more efficient logistics. This includes assessing energy sources used in material production, improving transportation practices, and supporting initiatives that lower the carbon intensity of our wider supply chain.
Growing our own ingredients
We organically grow a selection of herbs, spices, and other botanical ingredients used in our chocolate. This small-scale cultivation allows us to experiment with flavour, reduce sourcing impact, and bring more of the sustainable production processes under our own care.
Shared Responsibility Across the Supply Chain
Sustainability at our scale means looking beyond our own operations. We believe our responsibility extends across the full supply chain, where much of the environmental impact is created by third-party producers and suppliers.
That’s why we are developing plans to address not only our direct footprint but also the environmental impact associated with growing ingredients and manufacturing the materials we depend on. So, our long-term aim is to work with partners who share our vision for ethical and sustainable production.
High standards
We uphold strict sourcing standards for every ingredient and material we use. Our ongoing strategy focuses on transitioning to low‑carbon materials that used recycled content and new processes and methods in crafting our chocolate to minimise waste.
Ethical Partnerships
Building sustainability into every product starts well before our chocolate is made. We research the origins of every ingredient and material, working closely with suppliers—from cocoa farmers to packaging specialists—who protect ecosystems, support fair labour, and use low-impact methods.
Circular Supply Chains
We make our chocolate using natural raw materials and ingredients, crafted through traditional bean-to-bar processes. One of our long-term goals is to build a sustainable future in which every MayHawk product is both created from — and contributes to — a circular supply chain, keeping recycled materials in use for longer.
Our supply chain plays a critical role in this commitment, forming the foundation for progress in sustainable material use and plant-based ingredient regeneration. That’s why we prioritise working with like-minded farmers, plantation owners, cooperatives, and packaging specialists who share our long-term environmental vision.
Monitoring Impact
We want to ensure our future company growth is part of a sustainable action plan. Continued monitoring and measurement are central to ensuring that our future growth aligns with a sustainable action plan. This includes tracking the waste we generate within our operations and evaluating our environmental impact through the ingredients and materials we source.
Eliminate Waste
In 2021, we started the Zero Waste Implementation Plan and asked all of our staff to participate in the scheme.
The aim is to send zero waste to landfill from our manufacturing processes and sales pathways. It’s an ambitious target, with many outside influences and different suppliers involved, but we’re making steady progress through a structured, long-term plan.
Zero waste to landfill.
In 2021, we started the ambitious Zero Waste Implementation Plan and we are continuing our steady progress towards this goal.
Research & Development
Continued investment in research and development, and advancing new processes in our chocolate production, will allow us to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency, and accelerate the transition to circular, regenerative production models.
Priorities
Our priorities are clear: research and development are two key avenues to explore in our company’s long-term sustainability goals – alongside seeking supply partners who view sustainability not as a profitable short-term solution, but as a long-term investment.
It’s not just what goes into our products. It’s also how they’re made. So we experiment to find new ways to lighten our impact on the environment.
What we need to overcome.
Barriers to our progress and influence in the industry remain – including challenges within our control and those that remain outside our direct influence.
Traceability. Detailed information about the source of the ingredients or raw materials might not be readily available, or not true. As a small company we can only go on what we are told, although we do go to meet many of our suppliers in person.
Scale of economics. We are a small company, with principled business practices, but working at small scales means we cannot influence our supply chain partners to the same degree a much larger company could.
Growing our own ingredients. Scaling up our own organic production of herbs, spices and other ingredients. Keeping pace with our increasing sales and production means further investment is needed.
Operating MayHawk facilities efficiently. The older pre-existing buildings we own or rent have barriers to increasing efficiency and sustainability. Building a new purpose built facility from the ground up would be required to meet our high standards and advance our vision.
At MayHawk, we stay focused on our vision of sustainability while continually reducing our environmental footprint and impact. We’re expanding recycled material use, improving supply chain transparency, and strengthening partnerships with those who share our values.