Dawn Meats was awarded the Sustainability Award, recognising innovation and impact at Bord Bia’s biennial Food and Drink Industry Awards. The presentation was made at Dublin’s RDS Concert Hall at a ceremony of over 300 Irish food and drink industry leaders hosted by RTE’s Miriam O’Callaghan.

We have ambitious 2025 targets to reduce water and energy intensity by 40% and CO2 emission intensity by 50%. We have also set ourselves the goal of being Europe’s most sustainable meat company.

Sustainability across the wider business has been prioritised since we published our first sustainability plan in 2009.  As one of the first verified members of Origin Green, we have had our sustainability credentials endorsed by many external agencies, and since 2012 annual progress under Origin Green has been independently assessed to the highest international standards.

In 2017 Dawn Meats became the first food manufacturer to achieve BITC Ireland’s Business Working Responsibly Mark for our flagship Carroll’s Cross Plant in Waterford.  2017 also saw the publication of our first Corporate Social Responsibility Report which laid out the five pillars of our sustainability strategy, which included ambitions in the areas of sustainable sourcing and animal welfare.  

Commenting on the award Dawn Meats CEO Niall Browne said: “We’re delighted to see our commitment to sustainability recognised with this award. At Dawn Meats we have set ourselves challenging goals to further improve our sustainability performance. None of this would be possible without the commitment of our staff. We have a really strong CSR committee at management level, but the buy-in throughout the organisation has been a credit to every member of the team.”

David O’Flynn, Group Head of CSR added: “Bord Bia through Origin Green and it’s 270 verified members, has raised the bar for sustainability across the Irish food and drinks industry and shared progress globally through its world leading Origin Green program.  We are honoured to be recognised in this forum for our sustainability work and our commitment to collective action.  Our progress has only been made possible because of the commitment and teamwork across agriculture, sourcing, resource management, workplace, community engagement and innovation.” 

In their citation the judges for the Bord Bia award said: “Dawn Meats illustrated excellence, innovation and impact in corporate sustainability. There was a clear link with all stakeholders including farmers and customers – their progress in operations and their commitment to the future.”