NZ sustainable business of the year announced

Paraoa Bakehouse has been announced New Zealand’s Sustainable Business of the Year at the 2008 NZI National Sustainable Business Network Awards.

The awards, held at Auckland’s War Memorial Museum, acknowledged businesses actively integrating principles of sustainability into daily business operations.

Resene Paints, YHA Wellington, Express Couriers, Kate Sylvester and Meridian Energy were also winners in their individual award categories.

In addition to winning the Sustainable Business of the Year title, Paraoa Bakehouse also scooped up the top prize in the Trailblazer (Small and Medium) category.

The judges were impressed by the company’s commitment to waste minimisation. While producing 5000 loaves of bread a week, the business has reduced the amount of weekly rubbish it sends to landfill to less than the size of a netball.

The bakehouse recycles plastic, cardboard and paper and unsold bread is donated to the Foodbank, used for stuffing, turned into breadcrumbs or croutons or used as animal feed; and the company is also trying to source their energy from renewable resources.

Rachel Brown, chief executive of the Sustainable Business Network, is impressed with the company’s efforts to minimise and mitigate the impact of its business activities.

“These products have a positive impact on the health of the consumer and the health of the environment — the bulk of the waste from their operations becomes nutrient for animals or for the soil, which means the more the business grows, the healthier we, collectively, become,” Brown said.