World’s major food retailers “drastically” failing to address methane emissions, reveals report

Almost all of the top global food retailers secured less than half of the total points available in an assessment of their methane reductions across key indicators, according to new analysis by the Changing Markets Foundation and Mighty Earth.

Nineteen of the top 20 major food retailers analyzed secured less than half the total points available in assessing their methane reductions across 18 indicators. Only Tesco made it past the halfway mark with a score of 51 out of 100, with the average score across all indicators among retailers reaching just 20. Spanish supermarket chain Mercadona and US grocery giant Albertsons scored zero.

The tracked companies, which are all based in the US and Europe and include household names like Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, Lidl, Tesco, and Walmart, were measured against the Changing Markets Foundation and Mighty Earth’s new Methane Action Tracker, which assesses progress against 18 select indicators.

Tracked areas include emissions reporting, food waste and protein alternatives. The tracker aims to give insight into retailers’ actions on emissions within their supply chains connected to meat and dairy production. 

Switch to plant-based proteins

One of the key indicators analyzed in the report is the transition to plant-based proteins. The Changing Markets Foundation and Mighty Earth say a 50% shift by six leading food retailers alone could save emissions equivalent to removing 25 million cars from roads in the EU. 

However, the study finds that only a handful of companies have set measurable targets for increasing protein sales: Tesco, Carrefour, Schwarz Group (Lidl), and Ahold Delhaize. Most other retailers globally scored zero points on this indicator. 

Meanwhile, retailers such as Casino, Costco, Kroger, and Migros reference plant-based products or diets to reduce emissions, but none have targets for increasing their sales of these products.

According to the study, US retailers performed particularly badly. Costco and Kroger ranked in the bottom ten. None of the retailers assessed have a methane reduction target or report their methane emissions. 

The report’s authors call for greater urgency in driving down the sector’s methane emissions in line with IPCC [the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] recommendations. The Changing Markets Foundation and Mighty Earth want the retailers to set a science-based target to reduce emissions by at least 30% by 2030, which they say is in line with the Global Methane Pledge, and to publicly report on progress annually. 

Maddy Haughton-Boakes, senior campaigner at the Changing Markets Foundation, tells Food Ingredients First that supermarkets should be doing more to tackle the issue. 

Dairy and meat are responsible for almost half of the retailers' scope 3 supply chain emissions.

“There are no major barriers for supermarkets [to act]; in fact, it has never been easier for them to take effective action on their methane emissions. Many will already be measuring their methane emissions and just not reporting them externally, so an easy next step is to disclose these and set science-based methane reduction targets,” she says. 

“Supermarkets also have the tools available to start shifting their product portfolios toward more plant proteins and building on the existing consumer demand for these alternatives to meat and dairy.”

Haughton-Boakes explains that a lack of government regulation and the “general exceptional treatment of the food industry” means retailers don’t feel pressured to act. 

 “However, the increasingly stark reality of the climate crisis means they must make urgent changes to secure their supply chains and to align with global and national climate action. We hope that these findings and recommendations serve as a catalyst for supermarkets to take up the mantle as leaders in the sector,” she adds. 

Scope three emissions

It is estimated that “Scope 3 emissions — those generated along supply chains — comprise over 90% of European retailers’ emissions profiles, with meat and dairy driving almost half of those. 

Despite this, the analysis reveals that only six of the retailers assessed currently report on it. According to the Methane Action Tracker, in Europe Leclerc, Intermarché, Rewe, Mercadona, Sainsbury’s and The Kroger Co. all fail to report on scope three, either sufficiently or at all. In the US, Costco was found to be the only retailer reporting on it. 

The Changing Markets Foundation and Mighty Earth are urging retailers to set a target to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 and report these emissions annually.

Gemma Hoskins, global methane lead at Mighty Earth, says food retailers “risk losing consumer trust.”

“Methane is a superheater greenhouse gas responsible for about a quarter of the heating the planet has already experienced,” she adds. 

The EU recently announced its Vision for Agriculture and Food, which was criticized for lacking concrete targets on areas such as emissions and an insufficient roadmap for plant-based or cellular agriculture.