Rite Foods cuts carbon intensity, water consumption, invests N581.92m in social programmes

Rite Foods Limited has announced a 23 per cent reduction in its carbon intensity and a 15 per cent decline in water use as part of measures aimed at strengthening the company’s environmental sustainability.

The indigenous food and beverage company also disclosed that it invested N581.92 million in social programmes in 2025, representing a 50 per cent increase over its expenditure in 2024.

Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Rite Foods, Ekuma Eze, disclosed this on Friday during the presentation of the company’s 2025 Sustainability Report at its training room in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos.

Eze said the company began publishing its sustainability report in 2024, with its performance measured across environmental, social and governance pillars.

According to him, Rite Foods remains committed to conducting its operations responsibly while minimising the impact of its activities on the environment and communities.

He said: “We have to have a minimal impact on the environment, on the communities, on the people, and also conducting our business in an ethical manner to ensure that all stakeholders have one thing or the other to do well.”

On carbon emissions, Eze disclosed that the company’s total emissions stood at 567.5 tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2024 before dropping by five per cent in 2025.

He added that Rite Foods recorded an even larger improvement in carbon intensity.

“Again here, we reduce our carbon intensity year on year by 23 per cent.

“And our commitment is that by 2060, we should have come to net zero carbon as a company,” he said.

Eze explained that the company was working towards the target by consistently reducing emissions and improving efficiency across its manufacturing operations.

On water conservation, he said Rite Foods reduced its water use by 15 per cent between 2024 and 2025, stressing that water remained a finite resource that must be used responsibly.

“So because of that, we have set benchmarks for us to ensure that year on year, we are cutting down on our water use for our operations.

“So between 2024 and 2025, we reduced our water use by 15 per cent. So every day, we track our water use ratio in our operations to ensure that we are using water responsibly,” Eze said.

The company also recorded a seven per cent reduction in its energy use ratio, moving from 0.44 megajoules per litre of beverage in 2024 to 0.41 megajoules in 2025.

Eze attributed the improvement to technology, behavioural practices and operational efficiency.

He said Rite Foods operates an integrated energy system involving solar and natural gas, while reducing dependence on Automotive Gas Oil.

“The less we use of AGO, and the more of solar and natural gas we use, the better we optimize our energy efficiency,” he said.

On waste management, Eze disclosed that the company’s solid waste ratio dropped by 27 per cent, from 10.6 grams per litre of beverage produced in 2024 to 7.71 grams in 2025.

He said the company was also working to convert waste into useful materials rather than simply disposing of it.

Through its “Rite on the Beach” initiative, more than 42 tonnes of plastic waste were recovered from coastal communities in Lagos in 2025.

Eze said another 558.2 tonnes of plastic waste were collected on behalf of the company through the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance.

Discarded plastic labels were also repurposed into school bags distributed to more than 2,000 pupils.

Explaining how the 42 tonnes were recovered, Eze said the company conducts monthly clean-ups along coastal communities and also launched a plastic collection campaign.

He said: “Every month. Every plastic we recover is weighed. Then in July last year, we ran a campaign called Plastic July.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖