Origin Green, Ireland’s food and drink sustainability programme, is focused on measurable difference, operating across the entire food supply scale and on a national scale. This month we speak with Stephanie Moe, Bord Bia’s Client Capability Manager, to find out about the new Sustainability Communications training that she and the Origin Green team recently developed for Irish food, drink and horticulture clients.

Why focus on capability development in sustainability communications?

The agenda around food sustainability has accelerated over the past five years. Recent research from Bord Bia’s Thinking House has shown that this acceleration is set to continue despite cost of living pressures and global unrest. This means that businesses need to take action, and this is exactly what Origin Green members are doing. They are taking multiple actions across many sustainability issues, both environmental and social, all third-party verified in terms of progress on their actions. We now want to make sure members are confidently able to communicate their actions, armed with the right sustainability messages for the audiences they are engaging with, and mindful of the pitfalls such as greenwashing.

What capability supports were developed?

We partnered with Chris Upton and his team in Havas Genus to develop content for a three hour webinar that took at comprehensive overview of the sustainability communications landscape, addressing the issues that our members told us they needed help with, such as new legislation, how to create the right message, and how reach the right audience. Bord Bia hosted a virtual webinar in partnership with Havas, attended by marketing and communications professionals from across our Irish food, drink and horticulture membership base.

Mike Barry, Sustainability Advisor & Change Agent, provided the context on the need for change within our food industry and the importance of sustainability marketing, giving insights into the three enablers that will set up companies to succeed in this world where we need to cut carbon by 90% while increasing communication with retail partners and consumer. Genus’s Spiro Comitis shared their Sustainability Compass, which helps marketers define a road map.

In Association with

Bord Bia’s Danny Trench Bowles explained what customers and consumers value, according to the latest Bord Bia global sustainability research. Chris Upton, CEO of Havas, and Adam Taylor, Head of Strategy of Havas Media, covered the who, how and where to communicate, followed by the Do’s and Don’ts of sustainability communications by colleague Fiona Bain, Senior Strategist.

Where can people go to access this training?

The webinar content has been broken down into small video modules capturing the webinar content, and is available on the Origin Green website at this link: www.origingreen.ie/resources/communicating-sustainability/

Are there additional supports planned for this topic?

We are creating an online Sustainability Communications guidance document which will be available before the end of year on the above link above too. In February 2023, Bord Bia’s Thinking House colleagues will debrief on a carbon labelling and communications research project. It’s a fascinating piece of research and one to look out on the Upcoming Events section on the Bord Bia website.