75% of food and drink exports to come via Origin Green members
To date, over 280 food and drink companies, representing almost two-thirds of all exports, have registered with the programme and there are 23 fully verified members.
The food marketing body is set to unveil an ambitious plan for future exports at its inaugural Global Sustainability Conference at the Convention Centre in Dublin tomorrow.
The conference, with the theme ‘Our Food, Our Future: The Bottom Line’, will be opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, and is the centrepiece of a week-long business development and marketing drive by Bord Bia to further establish Ireland’s credentials as a leader in the global sustainability sphere.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said: “Ireland is in a strong position to become a credible thought-leader within the sustainability debate because of our natural advantages and the existing perception of Ireland as a high-quality supplier with robust sustainability credentials. This conference gives us the perfect platform to engage in meaningful conversation about what producing food more sustainable means.”
Bord Bia is preparing to welcome almost 800 delegates, including 280 food buyers from 25 countries. The event will feature speakers from companies and groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, the World Bank, PepsiCo, McDonald’s, Mars, Kerry Foods, Tesco, and Nestlé.
The food buyers represent some of the world’s key retail and foodservice operators including Carrefour, the world’s largest food retailer; Marks & Spencer; Chinese Dairy company Whaha, and Spinneys, the leading premium supermarket in the Middle East and North Africa.
Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter, said: “While our quality assurance and sustainability schemes are ground-breaking in their breadth and depth, it is still challenging to break through the noise when it comes to sustainability.
“Ireland needs to clearly stand out from the crowd and create a voice for itself around sustainability. This is a journey that will take many years to achieve; however organising and hosting this Global Sustainability Conference is a notable starting point.”
In June last year, Bord Bia introduced Origin Green, an industry-wide voluntary sustainability programme. As well as those signing up for the project, more than 35,000 farms participated in a sustainability assessment as part of Bord Bia’s beef quality assurance scheme.
Under this scheme, auditors measure a range of elements, from the length of the grazing season, fertiliser usage, and animal growth rates to feeds and manure management. Bord Bia then provides each farm with feedback and assessment of their performance to show farmers how they can further improve.
