Water, solar and... oat husks - The Flahavan's recipe for running its porridge operations

Rather than using oat husks in animal feed, Flahavan's have fed them into its boiler since 1985, saving themselves €300k a year on diesel. Of course, this was 50 years after the Waterford firm bought its first water turbine and they've been on that sustainability road ever since, writes Neil Michael.

Johnny (left) and John Flahavan in front of the company’s vintage delivery van. On the firm's use of renewables John Flahavan Snr said: “I think we’re doing pretty well as we're going at the moment. But (we could go) probably a bit further on solar." Photo: Neil Michael

Their name may well be synonymous with porridge oats and toasty granola.

But, now Flahavan's is gaining a name for itself from something else entirely: sustainability. And it’s something current MD John Flahavan started practising long before renewables and sustainability become as common in conversation as they are now.