Royal family marmalade maker to build solar farm in the face of rising energy prices

Queen Elizabeth II tours Wilkin and Son's Jam in Tiptree. Photo: Alpha Press. the family's favorite marmalade company is building a solar farm to cope with soaring energy prices.

Wilkin & Sons, the 138-year-old Tiptree marmalade company, plans to install solar panels on a 25-acre site at its Essex base in the next few years, hoping to be less reliant on increasingly expensive fossil fuels.

Financial filings filed by the jelly bean maker this week exposed the devastating impact of soaring energy prices and supply problems on businesses following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Chris Newenham, joint managing director of Wilkin & The sons told The Telegraph that costs have quadrupled after the company was forced to switch from three-year to two-year energy contracts, even with state aid

He said: «For a relatively small business, this is an outstanding hit that needs to be embraced… I don't want to sound like a harbinger of doom, but I think the next few years are going to be very, very challenging.»

The cost of wholesale energy is significant decreased in 2023 compared to 2022. However, Mr. Newenham said that Wilkin & The sons will most likely feel the effects for at least two years.

He said: «Politicians are very quick to point out in the press that we had a peak of energy, and that's all behind us, and the picture looks much brighter.

«But for companies like ours that are renewing their contracts, it's just at the wrong time in peak energy, we are locked into these contracts for a couple of years.

“[Solar panels] are very expensive, you know, this is not an undertaking for the faint of heart. But it will give us energy stability. And some cost savings compared to the cost of that energy in the long run.”

Marmalade suffered from compression.

To further enhance its environmental reputation, the company has installed multiple electric vehicle charging ports for customers and employees.

Wilkin and amp; Sons was founded in 1885 in Essex, where the founding family, the Wilkins, have been farming since 1757.

The company has been supplying its preserves, jams and marmalades to the royal family since 1911 and currently has a warrant from the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Its sales for the year to 31 December rose by around £5m to £48m. However, its profits have been halved, falling from £1.8m to £918,000.

Apart from skyrocketing energy costs, the invasion of Ukraine has made it difficult to get some ingredients, like sunflower oil, a last resort. year.

Mr Newenham said: “This meant we had to reformulate some products and used rapeseed as an alternative. But it came at a hell of a price.”

In April, The Telegraph reported that Wilkin & The sons were forced to downsize their Tiptree marmalade jars to cope with rising costs as a result of so-called «shrinkage».

The jars have been reduced from 454g to 340g, meaning they will cover approximately five less slices of toast per serving of 20 grams per slice, and while Wilkin & The sons lowered the recommended retail price of the jars, but customers still paid more for 100 g.