SHELDRAKE & SHELDRAKE HOT SAUCE
HOT SAUCE MEETS SUSTAINABILITY: SHELDRAKE & SHELDRAKE HOT SAUCE AND MAGICAL MUSHROOM COMPANY®
FERMENTED HOT SAUCE
Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce was founded by Cosmo, Merlin, and Jonathan Sheldrake, blending a passion for living, fermented flavours with an unwavering commitment to sustainability. Based in the UK, their hot sauces are renowned for their bold, complex flavours, driven by natural fermentation.
With Merlin Sheldrake, a renowned biologist and author of Entangled Life, as a co-founder, the brand has a deep-rooted understanding of fungi and ecology, which makes their partnership with Magical Mushroom Company® a natural fit.
Mushroom® Packaging offers a sustainable, compostable solution, embraced by Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce’s eco-conscious customers. As the first hot sauce brand to adopt this innovative material, they’ve set an industry benchmark. Lightweight, water-resistant, and superior in insulation, it eliminates waste and reduces carbon footprints, driving ecological and industry change.
“THE MUSHROOM® PACKAGING AND MAGICAL MUSHROOM COMPANY® HELP US TAKE OUR CUSTOMERS ON THE JOURNEY OF SUSTAINABILITY.”
THE PROBLEM
AN ALTERNATIVE TO SINGLE USE PACKAGING REQUIRED
The founders of Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce faced a common challenge: many packaging solutions are single-use, difficult to recycle, and contribute significantly to environmental degradation.
Traditional materials like polystyrene or unsustainably sourced paper pulp were not aligned with their brand values.
They needed a sustainable packaging solution that could protect their delicate hot sauce bottles without compromising their commitment to ecological integrity.
THE SOLUTION
BESPOKE, LIGHTWEIGHT, COMPOSTABLE PACKAGING
Magical Mushroom Company® developed bespoke Mushroom® Packaging for Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce, crafted from agricultural waste like hemp combined with fungal mycelium.
This compostable packaging is grown in moulds to form robust, lightweight protection for the hot sauce bottles. The innovative process creates a material that breaks down naturally at home in just 40 days, leaving no trace behind.
This solution not only protects the product but also aligns with Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce’s mission to reduce waste and promote composting.
THE RESULT
FIRST HOT SAUCE BRAND TO DEVELOP MYCELIUM BASED PACKAGING
The partnership between Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce and Magical Mushroom Company® is a generative example of how brands can align values to create meaningful solutions.
By leveraging MMC’s expertise in myco-materials, Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce became the first hot sauce brand to ship in fully home-compostable Mushroom® Packaging.
Merlin Sheldrake’s unique understanding of fungi and ecology added another layer of synergy to the collaboration, making it a perfect match for the innovative packaging technology.
“Our customer base is highly aware of the ecological crisis we are facing, making Mushroom® Packaging an obvious match.
It’s incredible to see how fungi can weave themselves into materials that not only protect our hot sauces but also protect the planet.”
Merlin Sheldrake, Co-Founder of Sheldrake & Sheldrake Hot Sauce
