Food and beverage brands tackling carbon emissions

Brands tackling carbon emissions: a look at industry initiatives and innovations

Throughout November, we are looking at the innovative brands tackling carbon emissions across industry sectors -from beauty and fashion to food & beverage, product design and materials, to technology, travel & hospitality.

Part 4: Food & Beverage

With scientists warning that 10 gigatonnes of net CO2 will need to be removed from the atmosphere to keep the global temperature rise under 1.5°C by 2050, the urgent quest to meet net zero (or, increasingly, carbon positive) goals is sparking a cross-industry wave of innovation. As such, eco-minded brands are not only looking to reduce emissions but also exploring carbon sequestration – a sector that’s set to be worth $15.5bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.3% (Research & Markets, 2021).

Below, we look at the F&B industry leaders tackling carbon emissions

Aforementioned drinks start-up Air Company (see Beauty) uses its solar-powered, photosynthesis-inspired process to distil premium vodka. For each 70cl bottle, 1lb of CO2 is extracted from the air, leaving only oxygen as a by-product. The brand is also investigating how CO2 can also be converted into glucose for sustainable future food production.

Finnish food tech company Solar Foods has created a vegan protein powder using microbes (which absorb the carbon and expel oxygen) to metabolise captured carbon dioxide from the air. The powder, called Solein, can be turned into meat or dairy substitutes, or added as a nutritional supplement to functional foods. The company will open its first commercial-scale factory by the end of 2021.

Based in the US, Thrive Market is aiming to become the world’s first carbon-positive grocery store by 2025. The B-Corp certified, membership-based online retailer is already carbon neutral, with its no air-shipping policy and all-recyclable shipping materials. Next, it intends to go zero waste, as well as investing in its newly launched organic and regenerative agriculture programme, which involves helping small farmers to switch to biodiversity-boosting and carbon-sequestering practices.

Image credit: Air Company, Thrive Market

New US snack brand Airly produces a range of crackers using grains sourced from regenerative farms, where practices include no-till agriculture, crop rotation and crop cover, and rigorous testing by a third party to ensure high levels of carbon capture. Any further emissions expelled during the production process – including packaging, transport and other raw ingredients – are offset by the brand investing in agroforestry and other farm sequestration projects. The crackers’ packaging lists the carbon captured per box (19g), detailing where this comes from and how.

Regenerative agriculture projects are gaining momentum in Asia, such as ReCap – the first of its kind. It works with coconut farmers in Thailand to train them on topics like farm management, soil health and regenerative agriculture. It suggests best practices to boost soil biodiversity and carbon-capture abilities (such as intercropping, cover crops and bee keeping).

The scheme is a collaboration between US coconut drinks brand Harmless Harvest, FMCG giant Danone’s Ecosystem Fund, and German international development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

McDonald’s has become an unlikely pioneer in the sustainable farming space by partnering with UK agricultural consultancy FAI Farms to investigate how multi-paddock cattle grazing can improve soil health, and foster healthier, biodiverse ecosystems with the ability to sequester carbon.

This technique involves mimicking how cows would graze in the wild, letting them roam on long grass with no bare soil, and balancing intensive grazing with long resting periods. Using this research, the fast-food giant plans to create a learning platform for British and Irish farms to help scale this kind of agriculture, and future-proof the beef industry.