PARTNERS – 6/2022 – OG | Irishfoodmagazine

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD,
pictured alongside Keerti Krishnan-Murphy, Sustainability Manager, Dairygold, Deirdre Ryan,
Director of Sustainability and Quality Assurance, Bord Bia, and Bord Bia Chair, Dan MacSweeney.

Green Means Gold

Article appeared in issue 6, 2022

Origin Green Gold Membership Awards recognise sustainability
excellence in the Irish food and drink sector

In September, Origin Green, Ireland’s national sustainability programme, awarded 58 food and drink companies Gold Membership in recognition of their industry-leading sustainability ambitions in 2022. The companies represented sectors such as seafood and aquaculture, dairy, meat, confectionary, beverages, and horticulture.

The annual Gold Member event, now in its third year, acknowledges the efforts of companies that have achieved exceptional annual performance on their sustainability targets in areas such as raw material sourcing; water and energy efficiency; waste reduction; packaging; and social sustainability based on the assessment of its independent verification authority, Mabbett.

Speaking at the awards, Martin Heydon, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said: “The commitment of Ireland’s farmers, food producers and manufacturers has secured our position as a global leader in sustainable food production. Food Vision 2030, our landmark strategy for the Irish agri-food sector, emphasises the importance of our world leading sustainability initiatives such as Origin Green. I’d like to congratulate this year’s Origin Green Gold Members on their exceptional sustainability performance and thank them for their contribution to our thriving agri-food sector that is responsive to the future needs of people and our planet.”

Dairygold was one of the Irish companies awarded Gold Membership status this year, by demonstrating an overall exceptional performance against its targets in its sustainability plan. Keerti Krishnan-Murphy, Sustainability Manager, commented: “Dairygold's Origin Green Gold Membership is another positive step in our sustainability journey, demonstrating that we're putting our best foot forward. The accreditation furthers our recognition as a valuable, sustainable milk ingredient and cheese supplier among peers, suppliers and our global customers.”

Since the establishment of the awards in 2020, over 125 Irish food and drink companies have been awarded Gold Membership. The number of awardees has increased year on year, highlighting the meaningful focus that companies are giving to their sustainability efforts in response to the urgency of climate change and the need for sustainable food production. This year, three companies celebrated their third consecutive year of Origin Green Gold Membership: Butlers Chocolates; Norfish; and Slaney Foods.

Deirdre Ryan, Director of Origin Green and Sustainable Assurance at Bord Bia, said: “The aim of Origin Green and its members is to inspire the entire Irish food and drink industry towards sustainable production, and it gives me great pleasure to announce 58 new Gold Members for 2022. Our annual Gold Member event, now in its third year, recognises the efforts of companies which have achieved exceptional annual performance across their sustainability targets. It’s wonderful to see the range of awardees from all areas of the industry this year, as the assessment of Gold Membership allows smaller companies to be recognised alongside large organisations for the strength of their sustainability achievements. Since the inception of the Gold Membership in 2020, it has strengthened the ambition of our members and encouraged Irish food and drink companies to increase their sustainability efforts in order differentiate themselves from the competition in the marketplace.”

Tony Byrne, Managing Director at Norfish told us how the awards feature in the business’ strategy. “Origin Green Gold awards has proven Norfish has achieved exceptional sustainability results within our business and therefore has allowed us to build strong partnerships with leading Irish and international customers. It highlights our continued commitment to a sustainable production and business model. We are extremely proud to achieve Origin Green Gold member status for the third year in a row. This achievement has been made possible through the dedication and efforts of our Origin Green team at Norfish who continue to work hard to meet our targets and are committed to building a more sustainable future for our customers and our staff.”

Origin Green holds the unique position of being the only sustainability programme globally to measure and monitor sustainability across the entire national food supply chain. Since its inception in 2012, Origin Green has grown to collaborate with 55,000 farms and over 300 leading Irish food and drink companies to prove and improve their sustainability practices to meet the evolving needs of global customers and consumers.

Michael Murphy, Interim CEO at Bord Bia, said: “Origin Green has been instrumental in monitoring and driving improvements in sustainability and demonstrating this to trade customers and consumers around the world. It’s wonderful to see this dedication to sustainability continue to thrive in our food and drink sector, as we celebrate and recognise the exceptional sustainability results of our 58 Gold Members.”

BOX OUT #1

Sustainability is a driving force for Gold Member, Butlers Chocolates, and according to Aisling Walsh, Marketing Director, it’s become increasingly important to consumers, too.

“Origin Green adds an additional layer to what we are doing already, and the independent verification process supports the authenticity of all that we do. It is important to consumers that trusted brands such as Butlers are doing their utmost to embrace sustainable production, source ethically and consider the environment in all that they do. We are thrilled to have been awarded Gold membership for three consecutive years. This recognition by Origin Green supports the reality of what we are trying to achieve on a continual basis. Gold membership is a clear signal that Butlers is committed to and actually achieving clearly defined goals and targets. It is not about what we say we will do, it is about what we have done. Buyers are impressed to hear and learn about Origin Green. The programme is still growing in awareness internationally, but it adds a valuable dimension to conversations with buyers.”