Meath companies recognised for sustainability excellence
Seven Meath companies were among 55 awarded awarded Gold Membership in recognition of their industry leading sustainability ambitions in 2022 by Origin Green, Ireland’s food and drink sustainability programme.
The busineses awarded were McCormack Family Farms, Epicom Food Limited trading as Complex Nutrition, Finnegan's Farm, Kepak Group, McCormack Family Farms, Meade Farm Group and Newgrange Gold.
The annual Gold Member event, now in its third year, acknowledges the efforts of companies which 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.
Since the establishment of the awards in 2020, 130 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 are being recognised for their third consecutive year of Origin Green Gold Membership - Butler's Chocolates in Dublin, Norfish in Co Donegal, and Slaney Foods in Wexford.
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 55 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.”
Michael Murphy, Interim CEO at Bord Bia, said: “As the world’s only national food and drink sustainability programme, Origin Green is instrumental in proving and improving sustainability across our industry and demonstrating this to customers around the world. It’s wonderful to see this acceleration of sustainability actions thrive across our food and drink sector, as we celebrate and recognise the exceptional sustainability results of our 55 Gold Members today.”
The 55 companies represent sectors such as seafood and aquaculture, dairy, meat, confectionary, beverages, and horticulture.
Ten years since this world leading programme was launched, 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.