Launched in 2013, SDAS is a national quality and sustainability programme that independently audits performance at farm level every 18 months
Irish food and beverage firm Kerry Group (Kerry) has achieved 100% certification of its 3,300 milk suppliers in the country under the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS).
Launched in 2013, SDAS is a national quality and sustainability programme that independently audits performance at farm level every 18 months.
The SDAS audit will satisfy Kerry’s requirements on quality, food safety and traceability. It will also help Bord Bia to determine a carbon footprint for each individual farm using an accredited footprinting model.
Kerry Group CEO Edmond Scanlon said, “It is increasingly important that we can demonstrate to customers and consumers that their food is safely and sustainably produced. Kerry’s heritage lies in processing the highest quality, natural, grass-fed dairy and the achievement of SDAS certification by all our milk suppliers is an important part of the group’s broader sustainability goals.”
SDAS is part of Origin Green and was designed and developed by the Irish food board, Bord Bia, by collaborating with key stakeholders.
As one of the founder members of the Origin Green, Kerry is the first major milk processor to achieve complete certification under SDAS across its entire Irish milk pool.
The milk suppliers associated with the company in South West Ireland currently provide more than 1.2 billion litres of milk on an annual basis.
