Meat processor cutting coal use

With financial assistance the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund, the company is embarking on its third “coal-out” project.

GIDI is providing $1milion towards the $2.6m project at SFF’s Pareora processing site, south of Timaru.

The Pareora heat-pump conversion project is the company’s third successful project under the GIDI fund and represents another important step in SFF’s commitment to playing a leadership role in driving sustainability in the red meat sector.

SFF chief executive, Simon Limmer, says it was committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the company’s value chain.

“The work we are doing to reduce the environmental impact of our processing operations is just one of the ways we’re making sure we do the right thing by our customers, who increasingly want to know that their red meat is sustainably produced.

“Support from the GIDI fund means we can make significant capital investments in low carbon energy with certainty and is a great example of how the private sector can collaborate with the Government for climate-positive outcomes,” says Limmer.

Silver Fern Farms has committed to a 1.5 degree science aligned target to reduce combined Scope 1 and 2 processing emissions by 42% by 2030 (from a 2020 base year) and will lead the red meat sector by joining the International Science based Targets initiative (SBTi) by the end of 2021.

“Reflecting our market leading initiatives in launching a net carbon zero beef product into the US later this year and wider on-farm sustainability work, our aim is to strongly position Silver Fern Farms as a leading climate-positive food brand,” says Limmer.

In August, Silver Fern Farms achieved Toitū enviromark diamond certification, the highest New Zealand-based environmental certification.