To us, sustainability is all about making a conscious effort to do more for the benefit of our environment, our communities and for each other. Measuring the impact we have on the world is a key priority and we’re constantly looking for new ways to reduce our impact because we think it’s the right thing to do.
Since day one, we’ve partnered with Mary’s Meals because of their singular focus on ensuring that every child receives a nutritious daily meal in a safe place of education. These life-changing meals attract hungry children into the classroom and give them the chance of a brighter future. These meals also support families struggling to feed their children while boosting the country’s wider economy.
In 2021, we decided to take our sustainability journey up a notch by making our entire range carbon neutral, taking the crown of the world’s first carbon neutral ready meal.
What does this mean though?
We worked with the team at Climate Partners to calculate the carbon emissions generated by our meals. We took the “cradle-to-customer plus waste” approach, calculating the life cycle of raw materials and packaging, relevant logistics, manufacturing, delivery to you, our customers, and the disposal of fiid and its packaging.
Working with Climate Partners, we invest a cash equivilent in CO2e-saving initiatives around the world. In our case we're supporting two Gold Standard projects - the creation and distribution of clean cookstoves in Rwanda and wind energy in India which is pretty cool, right? Neutralising our emissions is the first step. Now that we understand our impact, we're working hard to reduce our average emission year on year.
Around one quarter of all the food produced in the world is thrown away. A shameful waste of food yes, but also a huge contributor to climate change and a growing environmental hazard.
Because as wasted food rots in landfill, it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas which, according to the UN, has a 100-year global warming potential 25 times that of CO2, so a pretty big deal. 😲
We didn't want to contribute to this growing problem and so spent over 12 months searching for a way to extend the shelf life of our food naturally without the need for additives or preservatives. This is why we serve our bowls in a pouch which gives keeps our bowls fresh for up to 18 months.
This is done quite simply really and our pouch plays a starring role. We place all our fresh ingredients in the pouch before sealing it. We then gently cook it to perfection using only hot water. This process eliminates food waste during our production process. That's it. No gimmicks. Just real food with nothing added except time.
Meet B Corp.
We are so excited to share that fiid is officially a B Corp!
We are joining a group of global changemakers that use business as a force for good. Receiving this certification means that we're meeting the highest standards for sustainability, social responsibility, transparency, and holding ourselves accountable.
In our own words, it simply means we are trying to be part of the solution and not the problem, and acting on it.
Tens of thousands of companies have gone through the process globally, though only 4,000 have been successful in achieving certification. There are currently 8 certified B Corps in Ireland, 4 of those being foodies like us.
To receive B Corp certification companies complete a thorough global assessment which measures overall business ways of working in governance, workers, community, customers and environment. This framework provides a holistic measurement of a company’s social and environmental impact. The aim is to continuously improve and recertify every 3 years. Our team can’t quite believe it, but we currently hold one of the highest certifying scores in Ireland, a total of 106.2
As part of the process, we were required to provide evidence of our social and environmental practices, demonstrating how we measure and implement.
Policies and initiatives such as team wellbeing days, carbon neutral products, toxin reduction, extended paternity leave, local community involvement and charitable partnerships all helped us achieve B Corp certification.
We are thrilled to be certified, and have already begun working on our recertification plans including:
-Increasing sustainable supplier partnerships
-Becoming a carbon neutral company by 2023
-Donating a minimum of 2% of our overall revenue to Mary’s Meals
-Engaging more with our local community and
-Partnering with other B Corps to increase awareness around businesses responsibility
We are looking forward to working with the Irish B Corps and joining this movement to build awareness and advocacy for people that are using businesses as a force for good.
Interested in becoming a B Corp? Get in touch!