Just Eat to trial carbon labelling in partnership with Brighton restaurants

Image: Fat Pizza Brighton

Just Eat customers in Brighton will notice the labels over the next 12 weeks if they place an order from Smoque Burger, No Catch, Brewdog, Fat Pizza or Fat Burgers and Deserts. They will be able to assess the carbon impact of their choices before placing an order via Just Eat’s app or website.

The labels will be seen online rather than on food packaging. They have been developed as part of a collaboration between Just Eat, the five restaurants and food carbon labelling prober My Emissions.

My Emissions takes into account emissions across the life-cycle of the dishes, including the farming, production and transport of the ingredients, plus the cooking, packaging and transport from restaurants to diners. This information is conveyed to customers using a traffic light colour system and a grade. An ‘A’ grade indicates a dish with a very low carbon impact while an ‘E’ grade indicates a very high carbon impact.

“This trial, with the support of our restaurant partners, aims to empower and educate our consumers on the impact food choices can have on our planet,” Just Eat Takeaway.com’s head of responsible business and sustainability Jaz Rabadia summarised.

These labels will be applied to Brighton-based deliveries from the five restaurants for a 12-week trial period, during which Just Eat will collect customer feedback and assess whether the labelling impacts customers’ choices of dish. The results will be used to assess the potential for a wider-scale and more permanent roll-out.

Fat Pizza and Fat Burgers and Desserts have already confirmed plans to expand the trial to more than 40 of its stores across the UK.

Food for thought

Just Eat believes it is the first food delivery platform in the UK to offer carbon labelling.

Some restaurants, like Wahaca, have introduced environmental labels. Eco-labelling is also being introduced at several workplace canteens, like those at broadcaster Sky’s UK locations, and at many famous venues and events across the UK through catering groups like Benugo and Compass Group. Benugo serves venues including the National Museum of Scotland, ZSL London Zoo and the Natural History Museum. Compass Group has contracts with the stadiums of several major UK football clubs including Tottenham, Chelsea, Brentford and Watford, as well as Wimbledon and the Grand National.

Carbon labelling is currently voluntary in the UK for food firms. However, Chris Skidmore MP’s Net-Zero Review recommends the introduction of standardised environmental labelling on as many product categories as possible by 2025, with food as a priority focus. Skidmore noted that agriculture’s share of UK emissions is set to grow to 30% by 2030 without intervention, including changes to our diets.

The UK Government is reportedly set to respond to the Review within a matter of weeks.

Comments (1)

  1. Richard Phillips says:

    Just a little counter-balance- CO2 is the very staff of life!!
    No CO2, no photosynthesis;
    No photosynthesis, no plant life;
    No plant-life, no food;
    No food;
    No us!!

    Richard Phillips

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