Would You Choose Your Lunch Based on its Carbon Footprint?

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24 June 2022

Data on the carbon footprint of lunches is being offered for corporate catering customers, as an educational tool to help them to understand the carbon impact of the food and drinks they order.

It’s Lolly, the digital hospitality PoS system, has added carbon food scoring functionality to its app. The tool calculates a Co2e value for each product, ranking it on a scale from low to high.

As an example, an enchilada comes in at a score of 50 Co2e (medium), whereas fish and chips are rated very high at 300. Operators can also send encouraging messages to users, praising them for their choices.

Similarly, Nutritics is launching Footprint, a reporting system which provides insights on the carbon footprint of food purchases or foodservice and hospitality businesses. The technology can also be used to add a carbon footprint score to packaging, dishes and promotional materials.

“In order to make any substantial progress against climate change, we need progressive, robust and transparent technology, which track emissions in real time to inform strategic climate action - we don’t have time to get this wrong.

–Dr Laura Kirwan

Sustainability Lead, Nutritics

Low Carbon Menus in Contract Catering

Low-carbon menus and sustainable food choices are on the increase, particularly as businesses are under pressure to report on how they plan to decarbonise. In 2021, Compass Group, the UK’s largest food and services provider, brought together several climate experts to discuss building a sustainable food system, showcasing its low-carbon menus.

Peter Moore, CEO at Lolly commented: “Once the consumer has all of the CO2e facts they can decide how they manage their carbon scores, giving them choice. Harnessed well, this will enable hospitality providers to align with their customers’ preferences and demonstrate how they are playing their part as corporate citizens, in turn, they’ll experience greater levels of customer loyalty.”

Nutritics Sustainability Lead, Dr Laura Kirwan, added: “In order to make any substantial progress against climate change, we need progressive, robust and transparent technology, which tracks emissions in real-time to inform strategic climate action - we don’t have time to get this wrong.

“Empowering consumers to make informed dietary choices is another important element in the transition to healthy and sustainable diets, and we are excited to see how Foodprint can contribute to climate action from both the company and consumer end".

Picture: a graphic showing several screenshots from It’s Lolly’s app. Image Credit: It’s Lolly

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 24 June 2022

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