Solus Garden & Leisure has struck a new exclusive partnership agreement with Lincolnshire-based Marriages Specialist Foods to supply quality sourced wild bird feed for its ChapelWood brand, including Conservation Grade Seed Mixes.
ChapelWood is one of the UK’s largest suppliers of wildlife care and is highly respected for its specialist knowledge, innovation and quality products. The partnership with Marriages allows ChapelWood to continue with its core competencies but also enables the brand to improve its credibility and leadership with increasingly important and influential ethical purchasers.
Marriages is the only bird food manufacturer selected by Conservation Grade, which works with farmers and producers to ensure biodiversity and sustainability in farming. The Conservation Grade movement aims to put scientifically-backed, well-located and designed habitats into modern farming, ensuring a significant increase in biodiversity compared to conventional farming methods.
“Our research and feedback from our customers tells us that consumers are becoming increasingly ethically aware and concerned about biodiversity and the future of the land,” commented Henry Corbett, head of gardening brands at Solus.
“Wild bird products are a key market for ethical purchasers and our new partnership with Marriages and Conservation Grade gives us the perfect combination of a high quality, reliable supplier who ticks all the boxes for this discerning consumer base.”
Marriages dates back to 1824 when its parent company was established by William and Henry Marriage, and it is still run by the 5th and 6th generation of the family.
Despite its long heritage and Quaker values, the company is a leader in hi-tech production and boasts some of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in its sector, with its laboratories frequently cited as centres of excellence.
Marriages wild bird feed is produced at the company’s Driby Top facility in Lincolnshire, with other sites in Essex and Yorkshire.
Marriages’ agreement with Conservation Grade and partnership with Solus gives a new impetus to the company’s products, explained Sam Marriage, managing director of Marriages (right).
“We’ve long been recognised as a premium quality manufacturer and have always stayed one step ahead of the competition,” he said.
“We have become well known in specialist markets such as organics, and have strong links with sustainable farming, so the association with Conservation Grade was a natural progression for us.
"Working with Solus ensures that our Conservation Grade feed has the best possible route to market and reaches the greatest number of discerning consumers possible.”