2degrees has been appointed by Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board), following a public tender process, to collaborate on the development, implementation and management of an online platform to facilitate programs and engagement within the Irish food and drink industry on sustainability issues.
The Origin Green Platform will support Bord Bia’s Origin Green initiative, an industry-wide sustainability programme which aims to create a sea change towards the development of sustainably produced food and drink.
Bord Bia launched the Origin Green initiative in 2012, a pioneering sustainability development programme, which clearly sets out Ireland’s ambition to become a world leader in the delivery of sustainable, high-quality food and drink products. The voluntary programme requires food manufacturers to develop a sustainability plan that defines clear targets in key areas of sustainability, such as emissions, energy, waste, water, biodiversity and social sustainability activities. The programme is the first of its kind to be rolled out on a national scale and the Irish Food Board believes it will be key in setting Irish food and drink exporters apart from their competitors.
The establishment of the platform marks an important milestone in the Origin Green programme. It will now be simpler, easier and more attractive for Irish food and drink manufacturers to become verified Origin Green members, with the platform providing assistance in the creation and development of sustainability plans.
Becoming verified members of the programme allows companies to demonstrate a proven and authenticated commitment to sustainability. The Origin Green platform will also provide advice on how best to use this verification for marketing and other competitive benefits.
In cooperation with Bord Bia, the platform will be managed by 2degrees and provide further support for Irish food and drink manufacturers by promoting knowledge sharing (from within the community and from external experts), collaboration and the further development of support materials.
Martin Chilcott, Founder and CEO of 2degrees, comments: “It is our ambition to deliver a service to Bord Bia that will help them achieve their goal of having 75% of Irish food and drinks exports coming from verified Origin Green members. We believe that the community engaging on the 2degrees hosted Origin Green platform will have the desired effect of increasing awareness of Origin Green across the buying community.”
The appointment builds on 2degrees deep experience in platform based collaboration programs in supply chains, having run large-scale projects for companies including Asda, Tesco and Kingfisher. Origin Green members will also have access to 2degrees 42,000 sustainability professionals that are part of its online community.
