Sustainable Times - Profit Meets Purpose

Most drinks brands take ten years to reach profitability. Foreva Farmers is on track to do it in two — and without raising a penny of external capital.In this episode of Profit Meets Purpose, host Harvey Knight talks to the Layton brothers, founders of Foreva Farmers and winners of the Sustainable Times RISE Awards 2025 Consumer Product Category.The Laytons have built something rare: a vertically integrated consumer brand where they own the water, the energy, the food-grade CO2 carbonating the drinks, and the canning line itself. The result is a unit cost that matches established producers running fifty times their volume — and a business that's reaching profitability bootstrapped.In this conversation:The vertical-integration model that lets a Herefordshire farm match incumbent unit costs at fifty times the scale.How an existing renewable energy business is funding the launch of a consumer drinks brand from cash flow.Why their anaerobic digester is technically carbon-negative — and why no third party currently certifies that claim.The hardest founder lesson: pricing too low to match competitors instead of pricing to reflect the product.Why "story comes second" is the standard drinks-brand mistake — and how the Laytons built theirs differently.— Connect with Foreva Farmers:Website: forevafarmers.com/pages/our-farmInstagram: @forevafarmersLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/foreva-farmersCharlie Layton: linkedin.com/in/charlesoscarlayton— About the show:Profit Meets Purpose is the official podcast of Sustainable Times — the UK platform connecting sustainable founders with institutional and HNW investors. New episodes monthly.Sustainable Times website: sustainabletimes.co.ukSustainable Times LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/the-sustainable-timesSustainable Times Instagram: @sustainablenew— Connect with Harvey Knight:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/harvey-knight-38aa91a9— Our partner — Sustainable Wealth Group:Sustainable Wealth Group is the wealth management firm helping investors access sustainability-led EIS and private market opportunities.Website: sustainablewealthgroup.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/sustainablewealthgroupInstagram: @sustainablewealthgroup

Six years of continuous algae cultivation. Zero crop failures. A world first.In this episode of the Sustainable Times Podcast, we sit down with HutanBio CEO Manshu Agarwal and Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Dr John Archer — the Cambridge-based biotech quietly building one of the most credible answers to the hard-to-abate fuel problem.Where ExxonMobil walked away from algae biofuel and competitors like Viridos spent years on genetically-modified strains, HutanBio took a fundamentally different path. Their proprietary marine microalgae strain, Sphaerica — discovered through a multi-year bioprospecting programme in extreme tropical marine habitats — delivers up to 10x the yield of previous algae and oil crops. No genetic modification. No fresh water. No competition with arable land. Grown on seawater, in desert environments, using only CO₂ and sunlight.The result: HBx Bio Oil — a net-negative carbon biofuel designed for the sectors fossil fuels still own. Maritime. Aviation. Heavy land transport.What we cover:— The two-decade scientific journey from Cambridge and KAUST to commercial deployment— Why the algae biofuel market has failed before, and what HutanBio is doing differently— The Sphaerica discovery and what makes it commercially defensible— Building a high-yield, modular production platform engineered for desert deployment— The £2.25m Clean Growth Fund investment and what scaling looks like next— The IMO 2030 emissions mandate and why maritime is the beachhead market— What investors should understand about the hard-to-abate fuel opportunity in 2026—GUESTSManshu Agarwal — CEO, HutanBiolinkedin.com/in/manshuagarwalDr John Archer — Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, HutanBiolinkedin.com/in/john-archer-b551569Harvey Knight — CEO & Founder, Sustainable Grouplinkedin.com/in/harvey-knight-38aa91a9—ABOUT HUTANBIOFounded in 2019 by Dr John Archer (Cambridge), Dr Noor Azlin Mokhtar, and Suhaiza Jamhor, HutanBio is a UK-based climate biotech developing scalable, net-negative carbon biofuels from proprietary marine microalgae. Manshu Agarwal joined as CEO in late 2025. The company is backed by Clean Growth Fund and based in Cambridge with operations in Malaysia.hutanbio.com—SPONSORED BY SUSTAINABLE WEALTH GROUPSustainable Wealth Group (SWG) connects investors with private market opportunities designed to deliver both financial returns and positive environmental and social impact. With a network of 24,000+ impact-focused investors and a disciplined, ESG-led diligence approach, SWG receives over 1,200 founder applications annually and presents fewer than 1% to its investor community.sustainablewealthgroup.com—ABOUT SUSTAINABLE TIMESSustainable Times is a UK publication and podcast covering sustainable finance, climate-tech, and the founder–investor conversations shaping how capital gets deployed.Find more episodes and written research at sustainabletimes.co.uk—REGULATORY DISCLAIMERThis content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation. The content of this promotion has not been approved by an authorised person within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Sustainable Wealth Group Ltd is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

On this episode of the Sustainable Times Podcast, we’re joined by Mater-AI founders Dr. Nickel Blankevoort, Dr. Chelsea Williams, and Gatleen Bhambra to discuss how AI-driven materials discovery could transform clean energy and thermal management.Mater-AI is building novel thermoelectric materials designed for greater efficiency and new applications in power generation and solid-state cooling. Sponsored by Sustainable Wealth Group. LinksMater-AI: https://mater-ai.comNickel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickel-blankevoort-phd-5b2a9598/Gatleen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gatleenbhambra/Chelsea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseaanitawilliams/Sustainable Wealth Group: https://sustainablewealthgroup.comSustainable Times: https://www.sustainabletimes.co.uk

“The first rule of business is to make a profit.”In this episode of Profit Meets Purpose, I sit down with Terry Hewett, an experienced entrepreneur turned successful investor. Terry has an extensive portfolio of companies on whose boards he serves and is the founder of Copper Bottom Investments. With decades of experience working alongside a wide range of founders, he knows what it takes to make it  and has a sharp eye for spotting those who will stand out.This episode is a must-listen for our founder community, a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the mindset of the investors you're aiming to attract.We talk about Terry’s journey from engineering to founding, and selling, a major marketing agency, and how those experiences have shaped his approach to helping businesses grow and raise investment. He shares lessons learned from navigating mergers, acquisitions, and the ever-evolving investment landscape, as well as his perspective on why founders need to be coachable and why realistic valuations are critical.Terry dives into the current investment climate, from the risks of greenwashing in sustainability to the potential pitfalls of AI investing, and why building commercially viable solutions is more important than ever. We explore why the UK’s entrepreneurial spirit still gives it an edge globally, and why thinking internationally is crucial for startups today.This is a must-listen for anyone who wants real-world advice on raising smart capital, staying adaptable as a founder, and building a business that’s profitable and purposeful.Contact: ⁠[email protected]⁠Website: ⁠https://www.sustainabletimes.co.uk/⁠ 

“There's a huge shortage on the CORSIA credit market, there's a shortfall of 240 million carbon credits.”Aqualibre is a climate startup redefining the future of carbon credits. They are pioneering plastic recovery and pyrolysis technologies to combat climate change at its roots.Anthony walks me through Aqualibre’s transformative projects in Bangladesh, the UK, and South Africa, highlighting their work on plastic credits, sustainable aviation fuels, biochar production, and the development of pioneering carbon credit methodologies.He shares his expertise on the complex world of carbon credits, shedding light on why not all carbon credits are created equal. Anthony also dives into the greenwashing pitfalls that plague the sector and how Aqualibre’s insurance-backed, patent-driven approach offers a trustworthy, science-first model.From his background in mining resources for corporations to launching a climate impact business with community-first values, Anthony explains how Aqualibre is building a scalable, long-term solution, one that uplifts local economies while delivering measurable environmental results.Anthony will be in attendance at the Sustainable Times EIS event this Thursday if you wish to take this discussion further. Some tickets remain for tomorrow’s event: https://investeis.sustainabletimes.co.uk/eisforumContact: [email protected]: https://www.sustainabletimes.co.uk/