Carbon Labelling
What is carbon labelling?
Carbon labelling is when you calculate and display the carbon footprint of your food, product, or meal. My Emissions carbon label covers all emissions produced from the farm, up to when the food arrives at the restaurant. The meal is then rated from A (Very Low) to E (Very High), based on the ‘per kg’ carbon footprint of the food.
What is a ‘carbon footprint’?
A carbon footprint is the greenhouse gas emissions generated by a food, product or other activity, displayed as 'carbon dioxide equivalents' (CO2e).
How are you calculating the carbon label of the food?
We are using My Emissions carbon labelling, which calculates the carbon footprint of a product from farm to when the product reaches the store or restaurant. This is known as ‘cradle to store’ and covers the majority of the food’s impact whilst relying on as few assumptions as possible (as demonstrated below). More information on how the calculations are made can be found on the My Emissions FAQs page.
Why aren’t you including the carbon footprint of the delivery? Isn’t this misleading for consumers?
We are using My Emissions carbon labelling, which calculates the carbon footprint of a product from farm to when the product reaches the restaurant. My Emissions have found that this covers the majority of the food’s impact, whilst relying on as few assumptions as possible. More information on how the calculations are made can be found on the My Emissions FAQs page.
What are the thresholds for the carbon label being ‘Very Low’ or ‘Very High’?
The My Emissions carbon label rates a product or meal from A (Very Low) to E (Very High), based on the ‘per kg’ carbon footprint of the food. The thresholds are based on a statistical analysis of all the 3000+ foods in the My Emissions database and were audited by external consultants W2R Solutions.
The thresholds are:
(kgCO2e / kg product) Carbon rating
0 - 1.75 A / Very Low
1.75 - 3 B / Low
3 - 4.25 C / Medium
4.25 - 5.5 D / High
5.5+ E / Very High
How can restaurant partners sign up to the trial for carbon labelling?
Unfortunately, our trial is currently closed to selected participants. However, restaurant partners who are looking at carbon labelling their dishes can reach out to My Emissions to get insights into the carbon footprint of their food. We are using this trial to assess how we can scale the initiative more widely.
How can restaurants reduce the carbon footprint of their dishes?
There are a number of ways restaurants can reduce the carbon footprint of their dishes, but alongside My Emissions, we have identified three key ways to guide our restaurant partners.
- Offering lower carbon food choices such as plant-based options as well as milk alternatives to help reduce environmental impact.
- By getting creative with a carbon friendly menu by talking about flavours and origin in the title of the dish to capture customers’ imaginations, and tagging the dish as ‘vegan/vegetarian’.
- Help customers to order more of what they want & also reduce food waste at home by offering different portion size options.
Why have you only included the main dishes in the carbon labelling trial?
This is a trial, therefore it is important for us to gather the most useful information from restaurants in a short space of time. We found that the most efficient and impactful way to do this was by calculating the carbon footprint of restaurants main dishes only. We will look to expand this to other menu items in the future.
What are the benefits of carbon labelling?
Carbon labelling is a way to help empower and educate consumers on the environmental impact of the food they are consuming. It is also a great way for restaurants to understand, in more detail, the environmental impact of the food they offer.
How do you predict this will impact consumers behaviour?
This is something that we will be looking into as part of the trial, however, research shows that customers are looking for ways to better understand their environmental impacts. A recent study found that two-thirds (67%*) of consumers would support the introduction of carbon labelling on products. We’re introducing carbon labelling to engage and educate our customers in making more sustainable food choices.
*2020 YouGov survey, commissioned by the Carbon Trust, surveyed 10,000 consumers across France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US.
Why are you trialling another “sustainable initiative”? Isn’t this just greenwashing?
Not at all, we’re committed to drive sustainability through the sector and as part of this, it is very important for us to understand and gather feedback from both restaurant partners and consumers so that we can make any necessary improvements, before rolling any of our initiatives out further.
Will you be giving restaurant partners feedback on how to improve their carbon labelling?
Participating partners have benefited from a free carbon labelling trial from Just Eat for Business, with My Emissions calculating the carbon footprint of menu items and offering insights into how they can reduce their carbon footprint. The feedback provided will help restaurants make informed decisions about the ingredients they use to help reduce their carbon footprint.
Why are you trialling carbon labelling?
We’re introducing carbon labelling to our platform to help empower and educate consumers and restaurants on the environmental impact of the food they are ordering or offering.
Food accounts for 26%* of global greenhouse gas emissions, and we hope that by trialling carbon labelling across our restaurants on our platform, we can engage our customers in making more sustainable food choices.
*https://myemissions.green/about-us/
Are you working with any partners on rolling out the trial?
Just Eat for Business is working in collaboration with My Emissions, a leading provider of food carbon calculations and labelling, to introduce carbon labelling to our platform. The trial combines Just Eat for Business’ expertise as the London’s leading corporate food delivery service with My Emissions’ leading insights into carbon labelling within the food industry.
How will consumers be able to see the carbon labelling?
Participating restaurants will display a carbon label rated from A (Very Low) to E (Very High) and incorporate a traffic light colour system, next to the dish on their Just Eat page, meaning consumers will be able to understand the environmental impact when choosing a meal on the web. An example of this can be seen below.
Which restaurant partners will be taking part in the trial and how many?
The list of restaurant will be available in here
Sustainability continues to be an area of focus for our business, and we’re committed to help our partners become more climate conscious. The carbon labelling trial is completely funded by us. There is no cost to participating restaurants.