CLIMATE FOOD PRINT

Well, this needs quite a loooong answer, but hey, read it through; it's actually important as f. Heard of the Paris agreement? It's aiming to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by limiting the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And one key to reaching that target is to lower each served meal to 0,5 kg CO2e. See where we're going?

Our goal is to reach below the 0,5 kg CO2e per average meal and show we all can eat affordable and tasty food with a low climate impact.

Our new Climate Foodprint™ labeling is a nudging tool that will help you (and us!) to make conscious and greener choices. We also know for a fact, from our latest Vegocracy Report, that more than half (53%) believe clearer labelling of sustainable food would lead them to make more sustainable food choices. If that isn't worth acting on—we don't know what is.

Folks want climate labelling and so they will.

Our climate scale is set to guide the consumer to make a climate-friendly choice. The scale is divided into five, ranked from dark green to red. The dark green level is the level we need to reach to halter global warming*. Yellow and green are below the current average European meal, while orange and red are above and shall be eaten less frequently.

But hey: you can still add orange or even the red scaled ingredients, such as chicken or cheese, as long as you pick lots of green(s) stuff. You will end up with a climate-friendly meal anyhow when mixing a Picadeli Salad. (See Q16 for climate-happy-mixing-inspo.)

*in accordance with the scenarios from EAT Lancet

The labelling is based on a life-cycle analysis (see Q4) data where we have calculated the carbon dioxide emissions for our individual products from growing in the field to our green bowl.

Wanna deep-dive into the calculations? Cool—go to Q5

A Life Cycle Analyses (LCA) is a standardized method to make a field-to-fork calculation of the total climate impact of a product.

The climate figures we present are per kg of product (salad bar), or per meal (food-to-go products). This includes, among other things, the cultivation of raw materials, transport, and production.

For ingredients in the salad bar, we use CO2e/kg. The numbers display the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per kilogram and enable for you to compare ingredients.

For ready-made salads and food-to-go products, we use Co2e kg/meal - this shows the total carbon footprint of your meal.

We are using LCA (Life Cycle Analyses, see Q4) to calculate carbon emissions as well as collected values from our suppliers. Since LCA calculations always contain approximations, we use the ~ SYMBOL, which is standard for these calculations.

We all know carbon dioxide emissions need to be reduced. As in now, that is. But it's hard for the average Joe & Jane to know what to do in their everyday life.

If we could push ourselves to become even greener and nudge our consumers to make conscious choices, we believe it could contribute in a positive direction.

According to the EAT-Lancet report “Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems”, food production can by 2050 account for 5 Gton CO2e to be on a sustainable level regarding climate impact. With 9.7 billion inhabitants on earth, this gives an allowable impact per meal (lunch or dinner) below 0,5 kg CO2e. We have aligned our target with this.

We are continuing to reduce our climate impact and step-by-step we are either replacing or reducing the climate impact of the ingredients with the highest climate impact.

For example, we no longer have any red meat in the assortment and are constantly developing our assortment of plant-based proteins.

Also, if one ingredient has a higher climate impact it doesn't mean your meal in total will have a high climate impact, but with the Climate Foodprint™ it will be easier to create a climate-friendly salad on your own. We monitor the sales to ensure our total sales are developing in accordance with our targets.

According to WRI* an average European meal (lunch or dinner) has a climate impact of 1,45 kg CO2e.

According to our calculations, the climate impact of an average Picadeli salad mixed in our salad bars was 0,83 kg CO2e (2021) which is just above half.

The average is for all European markets and is based on an average Picadeli salad bowl of 418g.

Confusing huh? But we'll try to solve it here: we use per meal on all pre-packed products with enough energy and a healthy composition to be considered a complete meal. For our salad bar products, we use kg per kg for you to select by yourself.

We use the same calculations, but we are displaying the values per meal (or per kg for snacking products) and include the packaging in the calculations. We have chosen carbon dioxide emissions per meal because it is easier to understand for consumers.

We made a strict definition of what's considered a main dish meanwhile snacking products and accompaniments are always labeled per kg, to avoid misleading consumers.

For our prepacked products, which are considered as the main dish of a lunch or dinner, we're defining the meal by these criteria: the product shall have a good nutritional profile with enough calories to keep you saturated and give energy reflecting 25-35% of the recommended daily intake of calories (2000 – 2600 kcal* EFSA). Prepacked products not fulfilling the meal definition are labeled per kg (kg CO2e/ kg) to avoid misleading consumers.

Well, you can't (unless you have a habit of carrying around a scale). But here's a quick guide: start with a lot of greens in different colours. Power up with some protein—plant-based why don't you—add some pasta or grains and top off with your favourite dressing and topping. 50% salad and veggies, 20% protein, 20% carbs, 10 % toppings, and dressing.

There you go, a typical climate-friendly meal.

Good question! We would love if other companies follow this initiative and start helping consumers to make informed choices.

Do you work for one? Please; call us, email us, send us a carrier pigeon, or contact us in any other way you see fit and we will help you how to use our Climate Foodprint™.

WOW! How impressing you are one of us (neards). You can have it all here:

Neardy documents of rationals and calculations