Origin Green is Ireland’s national food sustainability programme, operated by Bord Bia, Ireland’s state agency responsible for promoting and marketing Irish food, drink, and horticulture. The programme brings together farmers, food and drink manufacturers, retailers, and foodservice operators. Origin Green provides mechanisms to measure and monitor performance at both farm and company level, supporting the collection of data and encouraging continuous improvement across areas relevant to food and drink production and supply chains. The Origin Green logo is not a sustainability label and is not based on a certification scheme that is applied to an individual product or stock keeping unit (SKU) within the meaning of the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EMPCO). Rather, it refers to participation in Origin Green programme mechanisms operating at farm and/or company level. Currently, Origin Green collaborates with over 77,000+ farmers and 350+ Irish food and drink companies to measure, monitor and report on sustainability-related activities and improvements in food production, aligning with the evolving needs of customers and consumers globally.
At company level, participating food and drink businesses develop multi-year plans that include measurable targets relevant to their operations and supply chains. These plans are independently verified, and companies report annually on progress made against their commitments. The programme supports businesses in monitoring performance across a range of operational and supply chain areas while providing a structured process for measuring, reviewing, and reporting progress over time. Participation is dependent on independent verification and ongoing demonstration of progress against agreed objectives.
At farm level, Origin Green is delivered through Bord Bia’s Quality Assurance Schemes. Participating farmers are audited at intervals of eighteen months. Audits cover areas such as animal welfare, traceability, environmental protection and farm management practices. Data on resource use and biodiversity is collected as part of the audit. This information is used to generate individual feedback reports for farmers, helping them understand and identify opportunities for sustainability improvement. This approach supports a consistent method of measuring activity across a large number of farms and provides verified data from primary production.
Origin Green is committed to working with both domestic and international partners to improve performance through collaboration.
