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Rosa's Romanian bakery helping UK progress to Net Zero

Press release 07 November 2024

Ahead of COP 29 next week, Rosa’s Bakery in Neath provides an excellent example of how small businesses can help to progress the UK’s journey towards Net Zero.

Rosa’s Bakery, a family-run bakery specializing in Romanian baked goods and delicacies, serves as inspiration for existing or aspiring business owners, of any age and at any stage of their sustainability journey.

Estera-Rosa – or simply Rosa as she’s known - has inherited her baking talent from her Bucharest-born mother, who is called Rosana and has a keen interest in nutrition.

As Product Director, Rosana ensures the baked treats on offer at the bakery are not only delicious but are also low in sugar with ingredients which are often locally sourced, unrefined and organic.

The bakery’s evaporative cooling technique uses just water and forced air, reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian method of hanging a wet towel over an open window. It is a greener alternative to traditional air conditioning and has resulted in reduced energy bills and refrigeration requirements.

The bakery on Neath’s Shufflebotham Lane is organically certified by The Soil Association and relies on over 90% renewable energy.

Compostable packaging is used across the bakery, where Rosa’s younger brothers Reuben and Asaph have also trained alongside Rosa as assistant baker and barista.

The Cundill family encourages the re-use of bags and sells popular re-usable jute bags, which have become popular with customers posting about them across social media.

As a small business, there are multiple methods and routes possible to become a greener business. Rosa Cundill, founder of Rosa’s Bakery commented:

Small businesses should never give up on finding natural solutions. Keep believing in better.

We want to become more sustainable by sourcing even more of our ingredients locally. We’re excited about supporting our local food chain further and we’ll also be supplying my father’s new delicatessen and organic food hall opening just 100 metres away from the bakery.

Deciding to launch my own business gives me the freedom to make the most natural and sustainable choices for products and ingredients.

- Rosa Cundill Founder of Rosa’s Bakery

In October the Bank announced that it had provided over £50m worth of funding to small businesses in Wales, equating to almost 5,000 loans, since the programme launched.

Rosa’s Bakery is a great example of a business that isn’t on the face of it set up with sustainability in mind and just goes to show that all businesses, no matter what sector they operate in, have a role to play in helping the UK reach Net Zero. The steps Rosa and her family have taken to improve the sustainability credentials of their bakery business serves as an inspiration to other small businesses ahead of COP 29. - Richard Bearman Managing Director, Small Business Lending at the British Business Bank

Smaller businesses can find a wealth of independent and impartial information to support their transition to net zero via the British Business Bank’s Finance Hub.

The British Business Bank’s 2021 Smaller businesses and the transition to net zero report found that smaller businesses account for around half of UK business greenhouse gas emissions.

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