Origin Green Gold Membership 2023 recognises Louth company for sustainability excellence

Bord Bia has acknowledged the sustainability performance of 97 Irish food and drink companies that have attained Origin Green Gold Membership in 2023, including one from Louth.

Gold Membership is given to companies, which are members of the Origin Green programme, in recognition of their enhanced sustainability efforts. ABP Foods in Ardee, Louth was awarded Gold Membership at the event. 

The Gold Members were formally recognised at Bord Bia’s annual Origin Green Sustainability Seminar today, which was opened by Charlie McConalogue T.D, Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine. 

Since the establishment of the awards in 2020, a total of 234 Irish food, drink and horticulture companies have been awarded Gold Membership. Overall, the 97 companies come from 21 counties and represent sectors such as dairy, meat, seafood and aquaculture, confectionary, beverages, and horticulture.

Deirdre Ryan, Director of Sustainability and Quality Assurance, Origin Green at Bord Bia, who officially announced the 2023 Gold Members, said: 

“Origin Green continues to be a pioneering programme for sustainability in Ireland. We work with more than 300 companies to help them set and achieve sustainability plans and set out to acknowledge companies which have performed exemplary in target areas through the annual Gold Member status. This year, we are thrilled to announce 97 companies which have achieved Gold Membership for 2023. 

"I would like to particularly congratulate Butlers Chocolates and Tirlán which both achieved Gold Membership status for the fourth year in a row.

"The increase in Gold Members this year is reflective of the drive and commitment that many companies across the Irish food, drink and horticulture sector hold in achieving their sustainability targets. I look forward to seeing all of our 2023 Gold Members continue to champion sustainability in the coming years.

"It is particularly pleasing to see that 80% of our Gold Members are from the SME sector, as typically, smaller companies do not have large teams working in the area of sustainability and in many cases, their achievements are based on the drive and energy of one person within the company.”

Commenting on the Gold Membership Awards, Jim O’Toole, CEO of Bord Bia, said: 

“The growing number of companies reaching sustainable targets and achieving Gold Membership is encouraging and we look forward to continuing to support Irish food and drink businesses in their drive to achieve sustainable operations.

"However, we can’t stand still. On the contrary, we have to re-double our collective efforts. Under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, the agri-food sector has to reduce its emissions by 25% by 2030. By working closely with like-minded organisations, we at Bord Bia and the Origin Green programme will provide the leadership and technical support to the industry to ensure sustainability continues to drive positive change in the sector.

"We must build upon the progress that we have already made in areas such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving biodiversity, and our collective focus on water quality and availability, animal health and welfare, and overall food safety and quality.

"We do this not just to meet consumers’ demands and Government targets – but most importantly because it is the right thing to do.”

The theme of today’s seminar was Accelerating Sustainable Businesses, and it featured panel discussions from Origin Green manufacturing members and customer retail and foodservice members, a briefing on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) by Russell Smyth, Head of Sustainable Futures at KPMG Ireland, as well as presentations from Dr. Sally Uren, CEO Forum for the Future and Mike Barry, a leading advocate for sustainable change and a former Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer. 

Grace Binchy, Insight and Trends Specialist at Bord Bia presented the first report in Bord Bia’s barometer series, Sustainable Nutrition: Where are we now?, which explores consumer behaviour towards sustainable nutrition. 

Deirdre Ryan, Director of Sustainability and Quality Assurance at Origin Green also provided an overview of the latest Origin Green Progress Report and set out the supports available for Origin Green members.