Origin Green Charters
At the core of the Origin Green programme is the Origin Green Sustainability Charter. Before becoming a member of Origin Green, a manufacturer, retailer or foodservice operator must sign up to their relevant charter:
Manufacturing Sustainability Charter
Retail and Foodservice Sustainability Charter
The Origin Green Charter is not part of the membership process for farmers as the farmer process is underpinned by independent farm audits and Bord Bia's Sustainable Assurance Schemes and Quality Assurance Schemes.
The Charter guides the development of a three-to-five year plan committing to sustainability improvements. All Origin Green sustainability plans are independently verified by Mabbett, a third-party agency, and monitored on an annual basis through progress reporting which is also independently verified.
Manufacturer's Charter
As part of the commitment to this charter, food and drink manufacturers must agree to implement clear objectives across three key areas:
Retail and Foodservice Charter
As part of the commitment to this charter, retail and foodservice operators must agree to clear objectives across four key areas:
*A food waste target is mandatory for all companies participating at this level of the programme.
Updates to the Origin Green Charters
Credits System
In order to safeguard Origin Green’s continued evolution and to drive greater impact at the manufacturing level of the programme, a new sustainability credits system was launched in March 2020.
The purpose of this new system is to cater for the diverse nature of Origin Green member companies by placing them into size appropriate membership tiers. Across a total of five tiers which are based upon a company’s annual turnover, varying target requirements are in place from a minimum of 4 targets for micro enterprises to a minimum of 8 for larger multinationals, with various requirements in between.
Performance against the sustainability targets set is measured annually by a third-party verification body to determine the credits awarded, with each tier having a different threshold to achieve ongoing verification. The scoring methodology used will be available publicly to display a greater level of transparency for how membership is achieved and retained.
Gold Membership
The Origin Green programme has also introduced a higher level of membership for companies excelling in their sustainability performance. Each year, companies that have reached a predetermined higher threshold will be designated as Gold Members of the Origin Green programme and rewarded accordingly. Companies within each respective tier will have the opportunity to achieve this milestone.
This change aims to empower and facilitate members to have a greater focus upon implementation of targets as well as offering renewed communications opportunities for the programme showcasing the efforts and impact delivered by the Gold Members of Origin Green.
Origin Green collaborates with over 53,000 farms and 320 leading Irish food and drink companies to prove and improve the sustainability of the food they produce to meet the evolving needs of global customers and consumers. Verified Origin Green members account for 90% of our food and drink exports and over 70% of the retail market. Becoming an Origin Green member means that your organisation will have the tools to produce food and drink in a sustainable manner now and into the future.
