Compass is planning to reformulate up to 90,000 recipes to reduce their carbon impact as part of a new strategic partnership with footprinting platform Foodsteps.
The UK’s biggest caterer said the tie-up would give more than 4,000 chefs across its UK and Ireland business improved capability to measure in real time the carbon footprint of the 180.9 million meals they deliver every year and reduce the embodied carbon in menus.
Chefs will be encouraged to experiment with different ingredients with the aim of creating a centralised bank of low-carbon recipes as closely aligned to a 1.5C climate target as possible.
Compass sites will also have the opportunity to label the impact of meals from A to E to show customers the relative carbon footprint of their choices.
In addition, the partnership will see Compass extend its support to pilots focused on measuring environmental indicators such as biodiversity and water in recognition of the food system’s impacts beyond carbon.
Compass has already piloted eco-labels within specific parts of its UK and Ireland business. Its Eurest workplace catering business has worked with researchers in the Livestock, Environment and People labelling (LEAP) group at the University of Oxford to rate dishes for their environmental impact across four indicators and communicate these ratings to customers at the point of service.
Compass has identified menu development as an essential part of its strategy achieve net-zero and is targeting a 40% switch from animal to plant-based proteins by 2030 – 66% of its FY22 carbon emissions were attributable to food and drink.
“The increasing convergence towards one global, standardised, diet is unsustainable and underlines why the menu is such a powerful and important ally for meaningful change,” said Carolyn Ball, director for delivery of net-zero for Compass UK & Ireland. “Focusing on better data so our chefs and operational teams are informed, empowered, and recognised for the positive impact they can have in every single service, is what we’re trying to achieve together.”
