Nestlé Professional USA’s “Cool Food Menu Certification” calculates carbon footprint, guides climate-friendly choices

21 Sep 2021 --- Nestlé Professional USA is partnering with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to bring more climate-friendly meals to consumers in foodservice settings. Cool Food Meals menu certification provides consumers a quick and easy way to spot low-carbon dishes when shopping or dining out.

The companies say this will help facilitate a shift toward more plant-forward diets that are better for the climate because consumers can be guided in their choices. 

The Nestlé Professional Cool Food Meals available at out-of-home dining locations will incorporate plant-based proteins from Sweet Earth Foods, a Nestlé Professional brand.

“With an ambitious goal to be everywhere – from colleges and universities to restaurants – this partnership will enable more consumers to easily make climate-friendly food choices when eating outside the home,” says Perry Miele, president of Nestlé Professional USA. 

Climate-friendly food
WRI calculates a meal’s carbon footprint by analyzing what it takes to produce the final product. 

If the carbon footprint falls below the established per-meal threshold and meets nutritional safeguards, it’s certified as a Cool Food Meal, and the official badge appears next to the Sweet Earth logo on menus.

To create the per meal carbon footprint threshold, WRI has established a max recommended daily carbon footprint for a person’s diet that delivers at least a 25 percent emissions reduction from current regional diets (US = 18kg CO2e).

The agreement with WRI will give Nestlé Professional customers access to scores of pre-certified recipes featuring climate-friendly, plant-based ingredients from Sweet Earth, including the Awesome Burger, Awesome Grounds and Mindful Chik’n. 

Foodservice customers will also be able to design their own plant-based recipes for certification using those Sweet Earth ingredients.

“By simply changing what we eat, we have a significant opportunity to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” adds Edwina Hughes, head of Cool Food at World Resources Institute. 

“This partnership dramatically scales the availability of Cool Food Meals, making it possible for consumers to choose a climate-friendly meal at a wide variety of dining destinations.”

Edited by Gaynor Selby