O’Brien Fine Foods

Sustainability Strategy, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, SBTi

Company Overview

O’Brien Fine Foods is a family-run business established in 2000 with manufacturing sites in both Ireland and the UK, which specialises in the manufacture and marketing of premium meats. A certified B-Corp, employing over 600 people, O’Brien Fine Foods supply both branded and private label ranges, from three manufacturing sites. O’Brien Fine Foods are also signatories of the Food Waste Charter.

Size: Large

Sector: Consumer Foods

Supports: GreenPlus x 3

Project Objectives

The objective of GreenPlus 1 was to develop O’Brien Fine Foods sustainability strategy, GreenPlus 2 to align to ISO 14001 & ISO 50001, GreenPlus 3 to align with the SBTi (Science Based Target Initiative) requirements. The purpose was to train key staff to implement sustainability best practices. 

Key objectives included:

• Develop a sustainability framework, policies and action plan
• Improve employee engagement with the creation of a Green team on-site
• Align to ISO 14001 (Environmental management) and ISO 50001 (Energy management)
• Develop a decarbonisation roadmap in line with SBTi with FLAG (Forest, Land and Agriculture) targets
• Prioritise sustainability issues, identify sustainability risks and opportunities, and engage with stakeholders

Results

The following training was performed on how to:

• Implement Responsible Sourcing
• Implement sustainability best practice (Align to ISO standards and SBTi)
• Calculate O’Brien Fine Foods Carbon Footprint and set new SBTi net zero and FLAG targets
• Engage with stakeholders and communicate sustainability actions

“For instance, for our first Green Plus, we developed our sustainability strategy, and we got technical expertise to come in and support us with that development process. The second Green Plus, we got technical expertise to come in and support us in building proper environmental and energy management systems. And the current one we’re using at the moment is to help us update our SBTIs (Science Based Targets initiatives), as well as then, develop a decarbonisation roadmap, and how we can actually go about achieving that.”

Nick Reynolds - Head of ESG, O’Brien Fine Foods

Find out more

Explore sustainability supports available to Enterprise Ireland clients: Improve sustainability | Business Support | Enterprise Ireland