Sofrimar Limited, one of Ireland’s most successful and innovative seafood processors won the ‘Green Seafood Business Award’ award sponsored by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) at the annual Green Awards in the Double Tree Hilton Hotel, Dublin yesterday evening (Thursday 14th April)
Located in Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford, Sofrimar has always been conscious of its interaction with the local community and the need to operate in a sustainable manner. As a verified member of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme and having worked directly with BIM’s Green Seafood Business Programme, Sofrimar have implemented a number of significant projects to reduce their carbon footprint and in doing so have realised significant cost savings.
Lorcan Barden, Finance Director of Sofrimar explains; ‘We are absolutely delighted to have won the BIM Green Seafood Business Award. As a seafood company wholly dependent on a natural resource, we understand the need to source sustainably and process responsibly. From a business perspective, it adds value and increases our competitiveness on our key export markets. In the last 12 months, we have reduced our electricity usage by 5% and our water usage by 6,000 cubic meters. We have reduced our usage of polystyrene cartons by 24% and the majority of our seafood is caught sustainably by small inshore fishing boats. This award is a real boost for our team and we will continue to implement and research green business solutions for our company. Thank you to the Green Awards and to BIM who assisted us and advised us on all elements of our green programme’
Sofrimar has experienced considerable growth in the last five years increasing its production facility and production capacity. Between 2009 and 2015, Sofrimar’s turnover has increased three fold. Sustainability was an integral part of planning during this expansion and to ensure this remains to the forefront of the company’s business planning, Sofrimar has a dedicated ‘Green Team’ in place. Plans are underway to generate electricity by using solar technology and further initiatives are in place to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill.
The business of sustainability is a priority for BIM as CEO Tara McCarthy explains; ‘We have assisted more than 25 seafood companies to achieve significant cost savings for their business through our Green Seafood Business Programme. Sofrimar have shared some winning metrics in their application. For water usage alone, Sofrimar achieved annual savings of €20,000 delivering a return on their initial investment of €34,000 in less than two years. BIM will be focusing on positioning our seafood industry at the cutting edge of green business; enabling our businesses to adopt green business strategies that deliver in terms of competitive advantage, cost efficiencies and employee engagement. Well done to Sofrimar and to all the nominees’
The other nominees for the BIM Green Seafood Business Award were Errigal Bay, Morgan’s Fine Fish, the Burren Smokehouse, Keohane’s of Bantry and Beara Seafood
If you would like advice on how to improve to reduce running costs in your seafood company and in doing so, protect the environment – find out more about BIM’s Green Seafood Business Programme