Foyle Food Group switches to 100% green electricity from Electric Ireland

The switch to Electric Ireland’s green tariff will enable Foyle Food Group to make a projected 7% reduction in manufacturing emissions in 2023 alone.

A family-owned business with over 40 years of expertise in the beef industry, Foyle Food Group’s five dedicated sites across Northern Ireland, the UK and the Republic of Ireland are now fully operational on 100% certified renewable energy from Electric Ireland.

Speaking about the importance of the transition to a more sustainable business future, group operations director, Malachy McAteer said: “At the heart of our business is our commitment to promoting practices that protect and regenerate the land around us, as this is what guarantees that we produce the highest quality and tasting products. Reducing emissions across all sectors is critical to safeguarding the future of our planet, which is why Foyle Food Group has set itself a target of reducing Scope 1 and2 emissions by 28% by 2030.

“Working within the food industry we have a high energy usage and electricity makes up 29% of our entire energy portfolio. As such, we recognised that switching to renewables would play a key role in enabling us to reach these targets.”

Foyle Food Group has been committed to resource efficiency within its operations over a long period and has achieved a 14% reduction in electricity usage between 2015 and 2021.

Foyle Food Group is the latest business to take advantage of Electric Ireland’s green tariff price plan, which has offered business customers 100% guaranteed green electricity since 2020.

Through its partnership with Electric Ireland, in addition to the green tariff, Foyle Food Group also has access to an energy analysis platform to manage energy on a weekly basis and plan for longer term developments via the Business Online platform.

Dermot McArdle, head of business markets for Electric Ireland, said: “As part of the ESB group, Electric Ireland is committed to leading the transition to a reliable, affordable net-zero energy future, and we are committed to empowering and enabling our customers to do the same through a number of initiatives. As well as offering our customers 100% renewably sourced energy, our customers can also avail of the energy analysis tools available on our Business Online Portal to track their sustainability journey.”