Macrae Edinburgh Wins Gold by Going Green
Macrae Edinburgh is celebrating its success at this year's Scotland Food and Drink Awards where the seafood manufacturer was named the winner of the Environmental Sustainability category thanks to it efforts to reduce impacts throughout its supply chain. The winners of the prestigious awards, which recognise those companies leading the way in enterprise, innovation and quality, were revealed at a ceremony held at the Benromach Distillery in Forres this month, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to Seafood Company.
The Livingston based company has implemented an environmental management system that has delivered substantial results across key areas including waste management and energy conservation.
With an ongoing commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 5% year on year, the Macrae Edinburgh's annual environment audit revealed significant successes with an actual reduction of 13%. Electricity usage dropped by 6.5%, gas by over 18%, water by 21% and effluent discharge by 24%. The savings in electricity are equivalent to powering 65 four bedroom homes and gas, 50 homes.
As a dedicated supplier of seafood products to Waitrose, Macrae Edinburgh developed new ways of reducing waste. Working with Waitrose, a new delivery model was developed and streamlined packaging introduced, which has so far seen a reduction of 180 tonnes of cardboard packaging.
Macrae Edinburgh also works closely with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, funding the development and maintenance of the Tailend Moss reserve adjacent to the factory. The three year commitment will fund access paths, fencing work, habitat enhancement and biodiversity at this important local wildlife site.
Roy Cunningham, managing director of Macrae Edinburgh, is delighted with the company's win:
"While moving into our new purpose built factory in 2007 meant that we were operating in a facility designed to be environmentally sensitive, we have continued to strive to improve our environmental performance. This award is recognition of these further achievements and the hard work of our staff who have been fully involved in delivering such impressive results which we hope will continue as we work towards fulfilling our long term environmental commitments."
Paul McLaughlin, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink said: "The calibre of entries to the excellence awards has been extremely high this year so Macrae should be extremely proud to be crowned winner of the Environmental Sustainability category. Scotland produces some of the most outstanding seafood in the world and this award is testament to the high standards which Macrae works to every day."
Based in a purpose-built 64,000 sq ft factory in Livingston, Macrae produces cold smoked salmon and trout, hot smoked and poached fish, seafood pates, seafood cocktails, speciality canapés and speciality entertaining products, amounting to over 70 individual product lines. Now part of The Seafood Company, the UK's largest and fastest growing seafood company, Macrae Edinburgh has grown significantly since its inception in 1998, with turnover rising from £2m to £25m and staff numbers growing from 25 to 260.