From Headliner to Harvest: How Wildfarmed is Changing the Game

But did you know that one half of the iconic duo also has a pretty big foodie connection to our stadium?

Andy Cato is also co-founder of Wildfarmed, whose regeneratively grown flour and breads is widely used at Allianz Stadium, from the beautiful bread boules to burger buns.

Wildfarmed - which Cato founded with George Lamb and Edd Lees in 2018 after becoming disillusioned with the industrial farming system - first came to Allianz Stadium in 2023.

Its arrival was part of our long-standing food & drink partner Levy's ambitious programme to drive 'sustainability at scale', as they started to switch a broad range of ingredients to lower carbon, more sustainable, higher welfare alternatives and those that support British regenerative food and farming.

The Levy culinary team at Allianz Stadium, who worked with Wildfarmed flour in breads, baking and general cooking noticed a "substantial improvement in flavour, taste and nutrition," said Thomas Rhodes, Levy's Head of Culinary, Procurement and Sustainability, and previous Executive Head Chef at the Stadium.

Since then, Wildfarmed has become the 'flour of choice' across Levy, a decision its Sustainability Director Kevin Watson described as a "no brainer" recalling an initial trip to Wildfarmed's HQ farm, where Andy Cato demonstrated the power of regenerative farming practices by digging up the soil, showing the wonders that are below ground.

Holding out the lush, healthy, life-filled handful of earth from the 300-acre Wiltshire farm, leased from the National Trust, Watson said: "the penny dropped. (...) You could immediately see it was just healthier."

Wildfarmed Co Founder Edd Lees has described Levy and Wildfarmed's partnership as: "proof of system change in motion, transforming landscapes so that quality food grown in nature-rich landscapes can be on the menu. A food system that works with nature, not against it, isn't a pipedream for the future - it's happening today."

Levy's first Climate Impact Report, published in September, stated that GHG emissions intensity of all flour products purchased across Levy has decreased by 7.6%, from 1.04 kg CO2 e/kg to 0.96 kg CO2 e/kg, driven by Levyʼs commitment to working with lower emissions suppliers such as Wildfarmed.

At Allianz Stadium, Wildfarmed flour is now used in everything from silky béchamel sauces to artisan-filled pasta, cakes, breads, and the brioche-style buns in which we serve our delicious wild venison burgers.

Wildfarmed Co Founder and one half of Groove Armada, Andy Cato commented "Our relationship with how we grow food is one of the greatest levers for health, growth, and resilience in a changing climate. Wildfarmed's mission is to make this a mainstream reality- bringing regenerative flour to high streets and cultural meccas like Allianz Stadium, so it's accessible to everyone, everywhere. Standing here at Allianz Stadium today, knowing that every loaf and every bite at this iconic venue is made with Wildfarmed flour, is truly incredible."

Wildfarmed works with their growers to achieve positive outcomes for the land, using farming guidelines to deliver a set of guaranteed outcomes, including improved soil health, increased biodiversity minimised water pollution and a reduction in carbon.

Crops are grown by Wildfarmed's 90+ community of farms in the UK and France, which follow an independently audited set of farming standards, ensuring that Wildfarmed food comes with these guarantees.

Last year, Wildfarmed worked with the Zero Carbon Forum, calculating that if every operator across the UK hospitality and brewing sector switched to regenerative flour and barley, 3.6 million tonnes of carbon could be saved by 2030[1].

To put the stat into some perspective: that's the same as cancelling more than 5.5 million one-way flights between London and New York.

That's music to our ears.

[1] FoodSteps, Life Cycle Assessment, 2023