Silver Fern Farms - 37% reduction in operational emissions

Organisation overview

Silver Fern Farms is a market-led food company, supplying nutritious and delicious, sustainably and ethically raised grass-fed red meat and other natural products, from Aotearoa to the world. As New Zealand’s leading processor, marketer and exporter of premium quality lamb, beef and venison and associated products, meeting customer needs across more than 60 global markets is critical to its success. As part of their customer-led approach they have strongly focused on becoming a climate and trusted nature positive leader.

From ambition to credible climate action

Silver Fern Farms had strong ambitions to become a climate leader but needed a clear pathway to make credible claims their customers could believe and trust. A key challenge was the presence of ageing, end of life coal fired boilers used to heat water across three South Island sites. Replacing these systems with energy efficient, reliable alternatives presented both a significant emissions reduction opportunity and a strong business case.

They began with an evidence-based approach, developing a deep understanding of emissions reduction opportunities across their processing operations and broader value chain. Robust data collection, reporting, and continuous improvement formed the foundation for success.

Building trust through independent certification

Partnering with Toitū provides Silver Fern Farms with independently verified, ISO-accredited certification programmes that global customers and markets expect, strengthening customer confidence in its sustainability‑backed products and partnerships.

This credibility is critical to protecting and growing market position, particularly as demand for transparency increases across international supply chains. Aligning with internationally recognised standards is critically important to Silver Fern Farms, and having a fully independent, government-owned organisation providing assurance has significantly strengthened credibility in key offshore markets with premium customers.

A staged pathway to decarbonisation

Data is the currency of trust and critical to unlocking customer value opportunities and aligning emission reduction investment with operational efficiency and long-term business resiliency. Silver Fern Farms adopted a staged decarbonisation pathway across its network.

At the Belfast site in Christchurch, this began with installing a high-temperature hot water heat pump to recover waste heat from refrigeration, followed by full electrification of process heat through a new 3.5 MW electric boiler. Working closely with Toitū guidance and verification requirements, alongside the EECA GIDI funding process, project teams applied energy modelling, detailed financial analysis, and lifecycle assessment tools to ensure investments met both operational needs and emission reduction expectations.

Electrification and heat pump technology were identified as the most efficient and cost-effective solution. A combination of heat pumps and electric boilers met all performance needs while delivering superior emissions outcomes, making the switch a financially sound choice, delivering significant water savings and putting Silver Fern Farms well on track to hit emissions targets.

Cross‑functional collaboration was fundamental; a highly dedicated team co-designed solutions, mitigated risks, and aligned delivery timelines to support certification and long-term performance. Active staff engagement throughout implementation built capability and reinforced an organisation-wide focus on climate innovation.

This structured and collaborative approach ensures the decarbonisation pathway is robust, auditable, and aligned with the broader Sustainability Action Plan, as well as Toitū’s certification framework.

Major emissions reduction and operational gains

The combined upgrades delivered a step change in decarbonisation at the Belfast site, eliminating coal entirely and on track for delivering emissions reductions of over 60% in a full operational year compared with baseline. The heat pump delivers 1,940 tCO₂e in annual reductions, with full electrification avoiding a further 1,472 tCO₂e per year.

Beyond emissions gains, the investment is already unlocking meaningful operational savings at the site of greater than 16%. Improved energy efficiency is projected to deliver long-term cost savings, while the upgraded system enhances resilience and ensures consistent hot water generation for critical food safety processes.

The rapid realisation of benefits has energised teams across the business, reinforcing that large-scale, future focused transformation is both achievable and commercially sound. Staff have expressed strong pride in contributing to a flagship project demonstrating real climate leadership, while customers gain confidence in Silver Fern Farms' commitment to sustainable, future fit operations.

Since launching its continuous improvement programme, focused on energy efficiency, waste reduction, and decarbonising process heat, Silver Fern Farms has reduced their Scope 1 and 2 processing emissions by more than 37% since 2018. Beyond the gains from improved energy efficiency, transitioning process heat away from coal to heat pumps and electric boilers has delivered additional direct cost savings of over 2.3% of their total energy spend.

Scaling impact across the value chain

Silver Fern Farms will continue progressing its emissions reduction plan across its network, while extending efforts across its supply chain into supporting on-farm emission reductions and working across transport and shipping partners to realise further whole-of-life emissions reductions.

Planned initiatives across sites include expanded heat pump deployment, ongoing optimisation of hot water distribution, and further electrification opportunities. These actions will support the achievement of science-based targets and maintain a market-leading position.

Customers increasingly expect both action and independent proof of that action. Silver Fern Farms calls this approach "Proof over Promise", a commitment that will continue to guide its journey toward a nature-positive future.

Kate Beddoe, Chief Sustainability and Risk Officer at Silver Fern Farms, on the value of certification:

"Our current and future success with customers is fundamentally built on trust and data is the currency of trust. When it comes to climate leadership, Toitū’s independent, internationally recognised certification brings credibility to our product and climate claims and underpins the trust our customers expect."

Hear more about their journey

Filmed in 2024, Sustainability Manager Matt Harcombe reflects on the role Silver Fern Farms plays to support farmers and help the food system move towards a nature positive future.