To ensure our products remain safe and of consistent quality, we maintain the highest standards of food safety across our sites and operations. When meat products leave the factory, the conditions in which they are stored and transported is vital to sustaining safety, quality, taste and appearance. We are working on several cutting-edge scientific projects to ensure consistent quality meat, maximise product shelf life and reduce food waste, and continue to seek ways to reduce food waste by collaborating with other stakeholders at each stage pf the product life cycle.
Provide consistent high-quality meat and improve storage technology to extend shelf life and reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
SHELF LIFE
By continuously improving the environment in which our products are packaged, we are able to extend the shelf life and reduce food waste. Creating an anaerobic environment using vacuum packaging has long been the best method of preservation for red meat, which also helps meat quality to mature and improve. Much of our product portfolio is vacuum packed, and we are working with packaging and equipment suppliers on retail ready solutions.
Innovative storage technology is utilised to manage the supply chain as demand for various products fluctuates, allowing us to provide consistent quality meat in the right volumes at the right times. This provides our customers and consumers with a good eating experience and helps to minimise waste.
- Using deep chilling, microwave tempering and freeze-thaw technology to stabilize the supply chain, allows us to meet demand at various times, maximising carcase value and utilisation and eliminates waste.
- We are experimenting with metagenomics, a gene sequencing tool, to build a better understanding of food microbiomes than current microbiological testing allows. This new knowledge may allow us to naturally extend the life of our products as the technology becomes more available in the future.
- We ensure that shelf life is established using the most up to date knowledge and protocols, meaning we can be sure we are continually striving to reduce food waste and maintain safe, wholesome food by achieving the best possible shelf life.
FOOD WASTE ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN
Around a third of all food produced globally for human consumption is wasted or lost, accounting for about 8% of global GHG emissions and about a quarter of the water used in agriculture. We focus efforts on reducing waste along the supply chain, from farm to consumer, and as signatories to WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment and Meat in a Net Zero World, are working towards the collective ambition to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
- We work closely with farmers to improve animal health and welfare, helping to reduce mortality and minimise food waste across the supply chain.
- Through our focus on valorisation, utilisation and LEAN processing, food waste from production as a percentage of finished product is consistently below 1%.
- In Ireland, Dawn are signatories of the EPA Food Waste Charter, and in the UK, Dunbia are signatories to WRAP’s UK Food and Drink Pact.
- We are committed to playing our part in achieving Ireland’s 2030 goals as outlined in the National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap to reduce national food waste by 50% and in the Waste Framework Directive to reduce food waste by 10% in the processing and manufacturing sector.
- We use state-of-the-art science-based assessments to ensure consumers receive products of excellent eating quality with the maximum possible shelf life to reduce in-store and at home food waste.
- These innovations have increased the available life of retail products by up to 50%, helping to reduce food waste both in-store and in the home.
- Dawn are industry members in the Meat Technology Ireland Tech Centre, who are conducting pre-competitive research on meat quality, shelf life and best-in-class technology.