Just Eat for Business to trial carbon labelling

The company has worked with and funded the three-month trial for 12 independent restaurant partners, including Urban Greens, Atcha, Choppaluna and Hala Wala, that will calculate the carbon emissions of main menu dishes.

It is being launched in partnership with food carbon calculations and labelling provider My Emissions.

Participating restaurants will display a carbon label rated from A (very low carbon impact) to E (very high carbon impact) by incorporating a traffic light colour system on their Just Eat for Business page. The ratings take into account the farming, production, transport and packaging of the dishes. 

Based on the products assessed during the carbon labelling trials, a typical beef burger (E-rated) produces four times more emissions than a typical chicken burger (C-rated), according to the data. 

The insights can help customers to make more informed choices about what they order and restaurants to make informed decisions about the ingredients they use, says Just Eat for Business.

“Exploring ways to minimise our environmental impact remains an important topic for us, and we believe extending this to also support our independent restaurant partners on their sustainability journey is key. Through this carbon labelling trial, we aim to help our restaurant partners better understand the carbon impact that their food options have whilst also empowering workers to make more climate conscious food decisions,” says Just Eat for Business managing director Matt Ephgrave.

“We’re excited to be part of the journey to making the food delivery industry more environmentally friendly and are looking forward to seeing more and more businesses adopt the same approach.”

A recent carbon impact survey from the workplace food solutions company found that 91% of respondents believe their business’ values play an important part in their employee wellbeing. Nearly half of respondents also say that they consider the environmental impact of the food they’re ordering into the office. 

“We’re really pleased to be involved in this project to learn more about the carbon impact of the ingredients in our food as well as supporting our customers in making more climate conscious food choices,” says Aadit Shankar, founder and director of Indian food brand Atcha.

“It will also help us gain insights into the preferences of our customers, as we know that they value transparency when it comes to sustainability.”