FDBusiness.com

Dawn Farms, a leading international supplier of cooked and fermented meat ingredients, has achieved full membership of Origin Green, Ireland’s sustainability programme for the food and drink industry – the first of its kind in the world.

The company, which is currently exhibiting on the Origin Green Ireland stand number A048a in Hall 6.1 at Anuga, the world’s leading food fair, supplies ingredients to the food manufacturing and foodservice sectors throughout Europe and is one of the original nine pilot  members of the Origin Green charter.

It has now achieved full membership of the programme through the submission and approval of its sustainability plan by Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) and independent auditors SGS.

Origin Green is a voluntary sustainability development programme, devised and run by Bord Bia, which sets out to demonstrate the commitment of Irish food and drink manufacturers to operate sustainably in terms of greenhouse gas emission, energy, conservation, water management, biodiversity, community initiatives and health and nutrition.

John McGrath, Dawn Farms’ Business Development and Communications Director, said: “Enhancing the sustainability of our supply chain is the new bottom line for our industry, ensuring we meet the needs of today and that future generations can meet theirs.  Making certain that the food suppliers you choose to work with are producing sustainability is no longer a choice, it is a priority.  As a result, sustainability is now a core business principal at Dawn Farms.”

At the heart of Origin Green is a sustainability charter which commits participants to engage directly with challenges which include reducing energy inputs, minimising their overall carbon footprint, lessening their impact on the environment and developing staff and community programmes.

Adding weight and credence to the programme, all full members of Origin Green are contracted to submit an annual report to audit their achievements versus the targets set out in the sustainability charter to Bord Bia and SGS for approval.

Dawn Farms has already made a number of key investments in sustainability initiatives on its site at Naas, Co. Kildare. These include:

• Energy: the installation of a bespoke heat recovery system in the cooked meat production plant has reduced the direct energy needed to heat water by 40%.
• Carbon: converting the site’s steam boiler from oil to natural gas facilitated a 20% reduction in the direct scope 1 carbon emissions from fuel per tonne of product produced.
• Waste:  a 10% reduction in waste to landfill has been achieved and under Origin  Green, a target of 70% has been set for diversion of waste from landfill to recycling and recovery.
• Water: targets have been set for 15% reduction in water usage in 2014 and 2015 relative to volumes of product produced.
• Health & Nutrition:  Dawn Farms is a nut free facility and none of the cooked meat components produced contain any hydrogenated fats, artificial flavours were removed from all products in 2012 and the remaining artificial colours will be phased out by end 2013. Meanwhile, all new products are developed to meet FSA 2012 Salt targets and minimise the use of allergens.

John McGrath added: “We have always been committed to doing business in ways that are good for our customers, our staff, the environment and the community.  Origin Green provides a credible sustainability roadmap for the Irish food industry and as a leading company in Irish and European food industries, we are proud to be playing a key part in this development programme.”