Island Seafoods recognised as 2015 ‘Green Business of the Year’

Donegal-based Island Seafoods has scooped two major ‘green’ awards including best in business recognition, ahead of strong competition from blue chip companies such as Coca Cola; Glanbia and Dairygold.

Sponsored and assisted by BIM, the Seafood Development Agency, Island Seafoods is a family-owned business and is part of a green movement to reduce its carbon footprint, by using hydroelectric power to generate 65% of its electricity.

Michael O’Donnell, Business Development Manager, Island Seafoods receiving the overall ‘Green Business of the Year’ award from Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly, T.D

BIM assisted Island Seafoods to reduce its running costs as Donal Buckley, BIM’s Business Development & Innovation Director explains:

“Island Seafoods took part in our Green Seafood Business Programme and they were a pleasure to work with as they already had a strong green company policy in place. To win the overall Green Business Award is not only a great result but for the overall Irish seafood sector.”

A member of Bord Bia’s Origin Green initiative, the company has listed additional electricity and water reduction and community interaction as key goals for the next five years. Michael O’Donnell, Business Development Manager of Island Seafoods explained how their focus on the environment is benefiting their business:

“We realised early on that a commitment to the local environment is paramount to the long-term success of the business. With the addition of a hydroelectric power plant, we save 350 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year.”

He added that the assistance and advice through BIM’s Green Seafood Business Programme on green technologies helped improve efficiencies throughout their plant: “We’re constantly striving to reduce our carbon footprint and are now investigating the possibility of building a wind-generated power plant that would make us completely independent from the electricity power grid.”

Islands Seafoods specialises in mackerel; herring; horse-mackerel; blue whiting and sprat, which is exported to China, Africa and mainland Europe. Along with Island Seafoods, six other seafood companies were nominated for Green Seafood Business of the Year; these included: Quinlan’s Fish, Glenmar Shellfish, HF Foods, Irish Seafood Producers Group, Shellfish Ireland and Sofrimar.