Two people walking through a rice paddy field

Tilda / Growing a better future – from paddy to plate

The Brief

Tilda is one of the UK’s most beloved producers of delicious rice and grains.

Aside from creating food products that people love, Tilda also has a legacy of using business as a force for good and have been reporting on their impact since 2021. But they were missing a clear purpose strategy to drive further action, unify workstreams, and accelerate change across the business. And because they weren’t sure how to talk about the great work they were doing, the general public, and sometimes even internal team members, had little idea about Tilda’s positive social and environmental impact.

We needed to build a clear and actionable purpose strategy and framework, find an authentic way for Tilda to communicate their impact, and make sure that it was brought to life through one unified voice across all channels and touchpoints.

Our Solution

Through our journey with Tilda, we facilitated business transformation, positioning them as a purpose-driven leader in their industry and helped them to define and realise their ambition to be the most responsible and trusted rice producer in the world. This evolution is empowering Tilda’s internal team, setting a standard for competitors and inspiring change across the wider industry.

We helped the Tilda team identify key areas and opportunities for impact, and bring focus and clarity to their vision for the future in three stages.

Strategy – Big picture clarity
Impact in Action – Get purpose right
Creative Change – Tell the world

Tilda x Leap ambition

Strategy – Big picture clarity

Working as a strategic partner, we brought all key stakeholders to the table, including teams that hadn’t previously been involved in sustainability conversations (Marketing, Brand, Digital, Sales, Social, HR) alongside senior leadership. This inclusive approach ensured that all business needs were considered. To establish a baseline for measuring future impact, we supported the team with conducting surveys and interviews. We also helped Tilda bring farmer stories to life and highlight their insights and views on sustainable farming. We held several in-person and virtual sessions to collaboratively develop a clear framework, including a purpose statement and strategic pillars reflecting Tilda’s supply chain.

The outcome was a framework based on the attributes that have made Tilda a household institution and shining light within responsible food production — its heritage, drive for innovation, and strong community relationships with both farmers and customers.

It focuses on the three key areas where Tilda has the opportunity to affect tangible positive impact:

  • Responsible growing
  • Better Business
  • Thriving communities
Tilda - Growing a future where life in all its flavours can thrive.

Impact in Action – Get purpose right

Through the next step, we worked with Tilda to define their purpose, informed by those three key impact pillars. Captured in a single line imbued with meaning — “Growing a future where life in all its flavours can thrive” — their purpose statement reflects commitment to responsible sourcing, sustainability, and community engagement.

To support the team with implementation, we developed a strategic guide and toolkit, providing tangible examples, narrative structure, and clear steps on how to integrate the purpose into everyday actions, helping drive positive change across the business and beyond.

[The purpose statement] is layered and it encapsulates all Tilda’s dimensions in terms of brand DNA, values, and a forward thinking on sustainability.
Jean-Philippe Laborde, Tilda Managing Director

Tilda guidelines
Portrait of a Tilda farmer
Tilda website mockup
Tilda website mockup

Creative Change – Tell the world

Finally, we continue to support Tilda in effectively communicating their impact both internally and externally. We helped bring their purpose to life with design assets and narrative. This has involved crafting transparent, engaging messaging across channels, including producing social content, B Corp announcement assets, a purpose launch film, and designing and co-writing annual impact reports. By helping the team confidently communicate their sustainability and purpose-driven efforts, we ensured that their impact stories were shared with robust authenticity, reaching the right audiences.

Deliverables included:

  • Purpose framework doc for internal use with implementation guides, narrative and tone of voice direction.
  • Purpose framework launch film
  • Design and content for website sustainability area
  • Impact reports for print and web
  • Graphic and video assets for use across channels
  • Copywriting for social media and web
  • B Corp announcement strategy and assets
Tilda impact report
Tilda staff
Tilda Marie Claire award winner

PR credit: Richmond & Towers

The Impact

Equipped the team with the tools to get all departments united behind their purpose and working in the same direction

Established confidence within the business to communicate about purpose and impact

Built readiness to move the business forward purposefully for the future as a thought leader within the industry

Tilda’s work was recognised with the Marie Claire Sustainability Award in 2024

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