October 08, 2019

Commiting to Sustainable Practices

Origin Green is a sustainability initiative developed by Bord Bia and is the first country wide sustainability programme that brings together the private sector, government, and food and drink producers. With a focus on targets such as energy, water, packaging, waste and corporate social responsibility it sets out to develop sustainable operations throughout the Irish Food Industry.

Achill Island Sea Salt were delighted to be certified as an Origin Green member in September 2019. As a company that harnesses our local resources to produce a product, sustainable practices and environmental protection are some of our core values. Becoming a member of the Origin Green Charter will allow us to continuously improve the way in which we operate to ensure that we act as responsible stewards of the environment.

We have set out a number of targets to improve our sustainability along the three pillars of the Origin Green Charter; raw material sourcing, manufacturing processes and social sustainability.

Manufacturing Processes

As part of the manufacturing targets, we have set out to improve our energy efficiency in order to reduce our carbon emissions and develop a more sustainable sea salt production process. This will involve working with energy and engineer experts to assess our current production facility to see where we can improve and develop infrastructures to increase efficiency.

Achill Island Sea Salt harvesting

Raw Material Sourcing

Sea water is the only input in our sea salt production process, at no stage are any additional ingredients added. The Atlantic Ocean that surrounds Achill Island is classed as Grade A, the highest-grade water can achieve and it is this water that contributes to the unique taste and texture of our salt. Achill Island Sea Salt are committed to working with the local community to ensure that the quality of the sea water around Achill Island is maintained.

Achill Island sea water harvesting

Social Sustainability

Salt is an essential mineral and without it our bodies cannot function. While research has shown that too much salt in the diet can have effects on our salt, through our social responsibility target we aim to educate our customers on the benefits of using sea salt over highly processed table salt. By developing simple recipes on our website, we hope that this will inspire people to cook their own food, that is beautifully seasoned rather than consuming processed foods that are often high in salt.

We have also set out to develop the food tourism and tourism industry on Achill Island. We aim to increase visitor numbers year on year, offering a unique and authentic food experience for visitors. Achill Island has a number of brilliant food and drink producers, and we hope that the development of our visitor centre will encourage other producers to create similar food experiences.