Words by Smiley Team
Chef Dan Dawson, shop owner Rich Eckersley and dairy vet Nick Barradale share one important commonality. When they met, each of them had recently had children, meaning that all of a sudden fighting the climate crisis became critical to the future of their offspring, as well as the planet. This fundamental shift in their worldviews led the trio to create ReRooted, a dairy-free milk delivery service using refillable glass bottles.
Dan’s journey started when he reached out to sustainability expert and climate activist Larch Maxey to learn more about living in accordance with the planet’s needs. “I just started feeling this existential angst about the way the world was going,” recalls Dan, “And I desperately wanted to learn more about how to live sustainably.”
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After being taken under Larch’s wing, Dan gained skills in sustainable building practices before moving to Totnes, the original Transition Town created by volunteers to free the residents from fossil fuels.
Meanwhile, Rich was working as a professional football player in Canada. In an epiphanic moment, he too decided to dedicate his life to sustainability and also made his way to the South Devon market town.
When they crossed paths, Rich was running a local zero waste shop, Earth.Food.Love. The pair saw the potential for selling plant-based milks and decided to join forces to tackle their personal bugbear - the waste created by tetra packs.
Most mainstream plant-based milks come with small print next to the recycling symbol indicating that not every recycling facility can process them. This is because they are packaged in layers of plastic and sometimes also aluminium, meaning that they are not easily recyclable.
Hoping to resolve this problem for people trying to live in more eco-conscious ways, Dan and Rich launched their dairy-free milk delivery service.
After local dairy vet Nick switched to a plant-based diet, he realised his job didn't suit his new lifestyle and joined the team as their third director. At that point they were all set to launch and expand, delivering at first to Totnes, later across Devon, Cornwall, Bristol and Bath, then eventually nationwide.
“Suddenly we went from selling a couple of 100 litres a week to a couple of 1,000 litres a week,” Dan exclaims.
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ReRooted’s milk is delivered in refillable glass bottles by 100% electric vans, and made entirely from organic ingredients. They also take the time to soak and press ingredients such as nuts or oats to transfer as much nutrients as possible to the milk.
But what gets people most excited is the return of the local milkman. “Aside from the quality, taste, and sustainability credentials, people love the nostalgic feeling they get when they hear the rattling of the milk van arriving,” says Dan. “Even younger people who haven't experienced it before still get it because they've heard their grandparents talking about it.”
To sign up for deliveries from ReRooted visit rerootedorganic.co.uk.
