Food firms say lack of capital is a barrier to green actions

Origin Green members say lack of capital, time and focus are key barriers to environmental projects

Deirdre Ryan, director of sustainability and quality assurance at Bord Bia.

Irish food sector companies are keen to reduce their carbon footprint, but many now also report that their choices are being impacted by cost considerations.

A new engagement report by Bord Bia has found that 59% of companies report cost to be the most common barrier in undertaking emission reduction projects.

This report follows a recent five-part Science Based Targets (SBTs) learning webinar series conducted by Accenture on behalf of Origin Green, Ireland’s national food and drink sustainability programme.

The engagement report summarises the key insights gathered through engagement with over 110 organisations and c.350 participants to understand members’ progress on their SBT journeys and highlights the common challenges members face.

The report found that Origin Green members have identified lack of capital, time and focus as some of the key barriers to progressing reduction projects.

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Deirdre Ryan, director of sustainability and quality assurance at Bord Bia, said: “It’s enlightening to see some of the key challenges and barriers Origin Green members face in understanding and implementing Science Based Targets.

“While their determination and drive to reduce emissions is clear, our members struggle to fund ambitious sustainability projects and to tackle SBTs due to a lack of understanding, knowledge, and expertise.

“This engagement report will allow Origin Green to tailor and intensify our supports to address our members’ key challenges, as we continue to provide Irish food and drink companies with the insight and expertise required to achieve ambitious sustainability results to meet the environmental challenges and evolving market needs that Ireland faces.” 

The recent webinar series consisted of five sessions, which can be found on Origin Green’s website. These were presented by experts from Accenture, industry and member companies covering four key subjects.

These included: Introducing SBT, an introduction to SBTs and the imperative to take urgent climate action; Measuring emissions, the methodologies and tools needed to measure Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions; Reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, the various levers companies can pull to reduce emissions across all scopes and make progress on their SBTs; and Communicating SBTs, the recommended approaches to communicate SBTs, and broader sustainability performance, to various sets of stakeholders.

In addition to providing insights for Origin Green, the report is intended for member companies and includes a selection of material to support members in progressing towards developing SBTs.

Karen O’Regan, managing director of Accenture Strategy, said: “There is a real imperative now for companies to tackle SBTs and show the real investment and commitment they are making in sustainability, by setting science-based targets.

“It was a wonderful experience to engage with so many Origin Green members and showcase not just the importance of SBTs but very practically the process of setting a SBT and understand how to manage some of the challenges. Research shows that both global and Irish consumers are increasingly calling for action from companies. As a result, a company’s ability to compete successfully in the market will depend on what they do in this area.” 

More than 300 food and drink companies across Ireland are members of Origin Green, representing over 90% of Ireland’s food and drink exports.

Since 2012, Origin Green company members have set a total of 2,779 sustainability targets and established 13,600 sustainability initiatives.

Food retail sector members of Origin Green include Musgrave, Lidl Tesco, Aldi and BWG Foods.

Meat company members include Barry John Sausages, Moy Valley Meats, Carroll’s and Shannon Vale Foods. Dairy sector members include Abbot, Arrabawn, Aurivo, Carbery, Glanbia, Irish Yogurts, Kerry Group, Ornua and Wyeth.

Other members include Aryzta, Achll Island SeaSalt, Brennans Bakeries, Ballymaloe, Kilbeggan Organic Foods and Riverview Eggs.