Rite Foods Limited has unveiled key milestones recorded in its sustainability drive, including reductions in carbon emissions, water consumption, energy use and solid waste, as the company targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.
The indigenous food and beverage company disclosed the achievements on Friday during the presentation of its 2025 Sustainability Report at its training room in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos.
Speaking, Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Rite Foods, Ekuma Eze, said the company remained committed to reducing the environmental impact of its operations while conducting its business responsibly.
Eze 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.”
According to him, Rite Foods began publishing its sustainability report in 2024, with its performance assessed under three major pillars — environment, social and governance.
Presenting the company’s environmental performance, Eze disclosed that its total emissions stood at 567.5 tonnes of carbon equivalent in 2024, with the figure reduced by five per cent in 2025.
The company also reduced its carbon intensity — measured by the amount of carbon emitted per litre of beverage produced — by 23 per cent year-on-year.
Eze said, “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.
“So that’s why we are making all the efforts to ensure that year on year, we are reducing either our emissions or our carbon intensity.”
Water consumption also declined by 15 per cent between 2024 and 2025, with Eze stressing that the company had introduced benchmarks to ensure responsible use of the resource.
He said, “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 explained that reducing water consumption also lowers operating costs because water used in beverage production must be treated and pumped.
According to him, the company recycles water from some operations rather than immediately discharging it.
“Aside from the fact that it is good for the environment, it is also good for our pockets.
“So if you don’t also manage the way you use the water, all of those costs will be going up. So aside being environmentally friendly, it also helps us to reduce costs,” he said.
Rite Foods also recorded a seven per cent reduction in its energy use ratio, moving from 0.44 megajoules of energy per litre of beverage in 2024 to 0.41 megajoules in 2025.
Eze said the company combined technology, behavioural practices and operational efficiency to reduce energy consumption even as production continued to grow.
He added that the company operates an integrated energy system involving solar and natural gas.
“The less we use of AGO, and the more of solar and natural gas we use, the better we optimize, you know, our energy efficiency.
“So, those are some of the steps we took,” he said.
On waste management, the company recorded a 27 per cent reduction in its solid waste ratio between 2024 and 2025.
The volume dropped from 10.6 grams of waste per litre of beverage produced in 2024 to 7.71 grams in 2025.
Eze said Rite Foods was also looking beyond waste disposal by finding ways to repurpose materials and create value from them.
Through its “Rite on the Beach” initiative, the company recovered more than 42 tonnes of plastic waste from coastal communities in Lagos in 2025.
Eze said the programme involves monthly clean-ups, while a separate “Plastic July” campaign encouraged shoppers to collect plastics for recovery.
He said: “Every month. Every plastic we recover is weighed. Then in July last year, we ran a campaign called Plastic July.
“In partnership with the Renewables Network, in fact, we’re going from shop to shop, distributing free collection packs to shoppers so that they can take it home, use it to package their plastics and send back to us.
“So, these were the initiatives we did to recover 42 tons of plastics from that project.”
