ExCel London is launching a carbon labelling system across all its menus, meaning the millions of people who use the venue each year will be able to measure the environmental impact of the food they buy there.
The conference and exhibition giant is clubbing together with its long-term catering provider Levy and food sustainability data firm Foodsteps to calculate the emissions data across all dishes on its menus.
Data on the lifecycle footprint of raw produce and other ingredients will be provided to ExCel, helping it develop and offer lower-carbon recipes where possible.
The initiative will also result in a simplified carbon labelling system showing customers the environmental footprint of dishes. Each dish will be colour-coded, along with a grading system which ranks food from A (very low carbon) to E (very high carbon).
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At least 50% of the menus at Excel already serve plant-based options, use 100% recyclable or reusable packaging, and are striving to reduce kitchen food waste to under 1%.
ExCeL’s sustainability manager Natalie Sykes said: “Food production accounts for almost a third of total global emissions, with animal-based products – in particular red meat and dairy – responsible for much of this.
“With food and drink a key element of the events industry, we want to do all we can to better inform our visitors and event organisers, and to reduce our overall emissions wherever we can. Foodsteps will make it easy to do that and complements our other measures which include reducing red meat on menus, and all desserts being dairy-free.”
Levy’s business director and net-zero lead, Kevin Watson, added: “Partnering with Foodsteps allows us to better support our clients and customers, it demonstrates why the menu is such a powerful and important ally for meaningful change.
“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.”
Earlier this year, it was revealed carbon labelling is set to appear on food products at the UK’s biggest sports events including including the Six Nations, the FA Cup Final and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
