alkatera·OS · The Library
Knowledge for the Conscious Producer
Insights, guides, and perspectives on building a regenerative drinks brand. From carbon accounting to supply chain strategy, explore the science and stories behind sustainable growth.
7 min read
Sustainability Reporting: What to Do When You Have No Idea Where to Start
Writing a sustainability report can feel like the homework you keep putting off. But distributors, buyers, investors and regulators are demanding the data more than ever. Here is how to start, in plain English, from a drinks brand founder who has been exactly where you are.
3 min read · Partnership · Drinks Industry
What unlocks consulting effectiveness
There's a moment in every sustainability consultancy engagement when the excitement hits a wall: the data request. At alkatera, we've solved what blocks most projects, not ambition or strategy, but finding, gathering, and organising data spread across departments and departments. When brands use alkatera, sustainability consultants can skip the spreadsheet chase and start with comprehensive, live data they can access immediately.
11 min read
Earth Day 2026: The Hard Road to the Right Destination
The drinks industry's relationship with the land is more intimate than we sometimes like to admit. We grow things, or at least buy things that are grown by somebody else. We depend on clean water, healthy soil where the flavour starts, reliable weather, and a functioning ecosystem of pollinators, microbes, and fungal networks that synthetic chemistry has been quietly degrading for decades. The brands that will navigate the next decade well are those that understand this relationship and start building supply chains that reflect it.
5 min read · Product Passport · LCA
What is a Product Passport and why you might want one
If a buyer emailed you today asking for the carbon footprint of your flagship product -- not your company's total emissions, but that specific SKU -- what would you say? For most drinks brands, the honest answer involves spreadsheets, supplier emails, and a few weeks of uncertainty. That is the gap a Product Passport closes. Here is what they are, why buyers are asking for them, and why the window for treating this data as a nice-to-have is closing faster than most brands realise.
8 min read · Greenwashing · Sustainability
The Greenwashing Crackdown Has Reached the Drinks Industry
If you're making environmental claims on your packaging or website such as "sustainable," "carbon neutral," "eco-friendly" and you haven't checked whether those claims would hold up to regulatory scrutiny, now is the time. The UK's anti-greenwashing rules changed substantially in April 2025, and the consequences of getting it wrong are no longer theoretical.
11 min read · Circularity
We Used to Have One of the World's Best Bottle Return Systems. We Chose to Dismantle It.
Last summer, I dug two bottles out of my garden. One was a Corona soft drinks bottle, embossed with the words This Bottle Is The Property of Corona. The other was a Unigate milk bottle — instantly nostalgic to anyone who grew up in Britain. Neither is remarkable on its own. Together, they tell the story of a circular system that once operated at extraordinary national scale, required no legislation, was embedded in daily life for generations, and that we quietly allowed to disappear. As the UK prepares to launch its Deposit Return Scheme in October 2027, it is worth being honest about what Exchange for Change actually is — and what it is not. It is a recycling scheme. And the two bottles sitting on my desk are a reminder that we once had something considerably more ambitious than that.
7 min read · B Corp · Sustainability
B Corp Just Changed the Rules. Here's How to Stay Ahead
It's B Corp month, but this year, the celebration comes with a serious conversation about what certification actually requires now. Here's what's different, and why the brands who'll thrive are the ones treating B Corp as a continuous practice, not a periodic project.
6 min read · LCA · Cradle To Grave
Beyond the Factory Gate: Why Drinks Brands Need to Think Cradle to Grave
In 2021 we ran a full lifecycle analysis on a bottle of Avallen Calvados and got a result we were proud of: 2.73kg CO2e negative. But here's what that number didn't include: the container ship to Hong Kong, the liquor store shelf, or the recycling bin at the end of the night. That's the difference between cradle to gate and cradle to grave. And it's a gap the drinks industry can no longer afford to ignore.
4 min read · Strategy · Legislation
Why Drinks Brands Can’t Ignore CSRD and UK SRS in 2026
Big changes are coming to carbon reporting in the UK and Europe — and they'll trickle down to your drinks brand. CSRD and SRS mean major retailers like Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Carrefour will soon need sustainability data from every supplier. Your environmental credentials are becoming a condition of trade. Here's what you need to know and how to get ahead of it.
5 min read · Greenwashing · Sustainability
The Era of Greenwashing Is Over
"The days of greenwashing are officially over. With the Green Claims Code and DMCC regulations taking the gloves off, sustainability is no longer just about the planet, it’s about business opportunity. Tim explains how Alkatera turns compliance from a risk into your strongest competitive advantage, ensuring you win the shelf in 2026.
5 min read · alkatera · sustainability
The Sustainability Operating System for Drinks
Ever wondered what a 'sustainability operating system' actually does? It’s more than just a buzzword. From our signature digital 'Glass Box' concept to tracking the four pillars of real impact: carbon, water, waste, and land. Our founder pulls back the curtain on alkatera. Discover how we’re replacing messy spreadsheets with strategic clarity, helping drinks brands move from compliance fatigue to genuine growth. Built by the industry, for the industry. It’s time for sustainability, distilled.
5 min read · Strategy · Sustainability
The Planet Deserves Better Than A Pivot Table
I was tired of sustainability feeling like homework. After years in the drinks industry, I realised that saving the planet shouldn't be the most boring part of my day. This is the story of why we’re ditching the messy spreadsheets and uninspiring tools to build something better, for drinks brands, for flavour, and for the soil. Discover why we believe the planet deserves better design, and how we’re making sustainability finally feel like a superpower.
The newsletter · Sustainability, monthly
The library posts you a letter.
One considered email a month on regulation, retailer requirements and what the best drinks brands are doing about both.
