H Foster 1875 supplies globally sourced products like natural waxes, fatty acids and more to a variety of sectors. The company provides a personal service, offering high-quality, innovative ingredients. Hannah Barnett spoke to MD & Owner Simon Eggar, Business Development Manager & Owner Tom Eggar and Office Manager Kirsty Mitchell to learn more.
History is a significant piece in the H Foster 1875 puzzle – after all, its founding date forms part of its name. But at the same time, intrinsic to the company’s success is its ability to adapt and grow.
“H Foster evolved through the back end of the 19th century, producing its own stearic acid under multiple generations of the Foster family, before I took over in 2006 and we moved into being a bulk reduction company,” said Simon Eggar, MD & Owner. “The business has moved with the times. It’s important that we keep ahead of legislation and make sure that we are supplying products that meet all the necessary requirements to facilitate consumer confidence.”
Smoothing the supply chain
Since H Foster was purchased by the Eggar family, the company has added several significant partnerships to its portfolio, including Native Extracts in Australia and one of the leading natural wax refineries in the world; Kahl in Germany. With an eye on adding green products to the portfolio, the company also works closely with Blackthorn Salt, based in Scotland, and Stephensons Group who are based near Leeds, England.
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As a family business, H Foster is strongly committed to helping companies that are starting out. “We welcome customers making soap in their kitchen right up to a company in the FTSE100,” said Tom Eggar, Business Development Manager & Owner. “In order to help those smaller customers, we have recently opened an online shop, www.1875.co.uk . That allows us to sell quantities as small as 100 grams.”
In 2019, the company moved to offices in Goring-on-Thames, downsizing to reduce its carbon footprint. H Foster also has a warehouse in Leeds. The site has been used in some form since the company was founded, but there are plans to move to
another facility run by renewable energy within the next two years.
Though some of the details on the move are still being worked out, one thing is certain: the site will remain in Yorkshire.
“H Foster is a Yorkshire company,” said Tom Eggar. “We want to keep the heart of the business there.”
H Foster has a small team of 10 employees but also works closely alongside several consultancies. “We are a big believer in outsourcing certain functions and often work with QFactorial,” Simon Eggar explained. “Running up to Brexit, we also took on a company called Penman to help us navigate through UK REACH, which was
replacing the European version. Working with consultants means when we need additional resources, we can continue to offer a professional service without any glitches in our supply chain.”
A sustainable gold star
The company recently achieved EcoVadis gold certification. Only 5% of the companies who apply to EcoVadis achieve Gold on their first certification. During the application process H Foster found it was already ahead of the curve.
“At first, the information that’s required to get the rating can seem daunting,” explained Office Manager Kirsty Mitchell. “But as we dug deeper, we realised we were meeting a lot of the conditions already, just not in the correct format. We weren’t sure what rating we were going to get, but were incredibly pleased, proud and surprised that the certification was gold.”
The company worked alongside consultancy firm PS Partnerships to navigate the certification process. “PS Partnerships has been fantastic, we are now working together for our recertification,” Ms Mitchell added. “This ensures we uphold all that we say in our report.”
H Foster is aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring that its suppliers are committed too. This year, the company will be sending out supplier questionnaires to gather more in-depth information.
The company already uses upcycled products from its suppliers. Kahl, for instance, produces tea wax derived from the caffeine extraction process of tea leaves.
“Up until a few years ago, the wax was discarded,” explained Tom Eggar. “But Kahl found a way to refine it. The material helps to reduce the trans-epidermal water loss in skin, so it’s perfect in hand creams,
lip balms, things like that. It’s also a natural fragrance.”
Blackthorn Salt is similarly sustainable. The company uses a graduation tower, a traditional technique for collecting sea salt. “It’s completely carbon neutral,” Tom Eggar explained. “The tower collects the seawater and filters it. As the water runs down, the sea air evaporates it, ending with just salt at the bottom. Blackthorn is a very green company.”
H Foster’s newest supplier is Native Extracts, a leading phyto-tech company
and based near Byron, Australia. Native Extracts prides itself on its eco-conscious manufacturing processes. H Foster is excited and delighted to announce this new partnership.
The company has hit some of its other sustainability goals ahead of time. One target was to decommission the boiler at the Leeds site by 2025; H Foster has already achieved that a year ahead of schedule, dramatically decreasing the company’s carbon footprint in the process.
To further the push towards carbon neutrality, H Foster recently purchased a woodland. Operations at the site will be evaluated by a third party, analysing the carbon intake and suggesting how to increase it, as well advising on the best ways to preserve the natural ecosystem.
Going the extra mile
H Foster is similarly serious about customer service. A few months ago, when a supplier was unable to deliver materials in time, Tom Eggar took matters into his own hands.
“I personally hired a van,” he said. “Another customer kindly lent us stock, so I drove to pick that up, then delivered it to the first
customer. We want to ensure that our customers know we are always with them.”
The company also has an extensive network of strategic partners and a willingness to work closely with customers on specific formulations. “If it’s something that we can’t help you with, I will know someone that can,” Tom Eggar added.
A blend of expertise and dedication runs through the foundations of H Foster. “All customers get the same amount of time on the phone, whether that be a smaller home-based outfit or a much larger business,” said Ms Mitchell. “Some calls can be 45 minutes long. We always have an answer, or if we don’t, we will find out. We are all constantly learning here, but the knowledge that Simon and Tom have is invaluable.”
“My favourite time of the day is 9:15am,” concluded Simon Eggar. “We have a Teams meeting at that time every day, including all the staff. We discuss any problems or supply issues, and check we are all singing from the same song sheet. It takes about 20 minutes of our valuable time. By the end of it, we’ve got the whole day planned. And we know what we must achieve before 9:15 the following day.”
