Food & Climate
Finnwatch noted that fast food firms in Finland which introduce plant-based meat are better for climate. They use play a major role in terms of environmental impacts.
It said that meat-based options contributed significantly to carbon emissions. At the same time, it said restaurants offering plant-based meat substitutes help that situation.
Finnwatch is a non-governmental organization that investigates the global impacts of business enterprise. It investigates human rights and climate impacts and tax responsibility of business enterprises.
The NGO looked at the practices of major fast food chains that have at least 50 outlets in Finland. It scrutinised the companies’ emissions reports as well as their goals to reduce emissions that affect the climate, according to “Food & Climate“.
Fast food chains
Finnwatch compared 6 fast food chains. After the leader, Subway, the restaurants ranked in the following order: Burger King, Hesburger, McDonald’s, Rolls, Scanburger and Subway.
The NGO said it found major differences in the comparison, with the biggest companies usually having the clearest climate-related goals. One reason for this is that international firms usually have infrastructure for such efforts securely in place — including regular emissions reporting and goals for reducing emissions in future.
According to Finnwatch, the lowest-ranking chain was US-based sandwich giant Subway. Their low ranking was caused by the company not answering Finnwatch’s survey and not publishing adequate information about its climate efforts, the watchdog explained.
“Subway did not respond to us at all, and we received almost no information about its climate work,” Finnwatch climate expert Lasse Leipola explained.
According to Finnwatch, the ranking was based on the fast food companies’ climate efforts, and not the climate footprint of their products. For instance, it did not compare the climate impacts of a sub sandwich versus a burger and fries, or a pizza.
Fast food chains Scanburger and Rolls were near the bottom of the ranking. This was due to shortfalls Finnwatch observed in the companies’ transparency about climate-related actions, or for failing to meet such targets. The NGO said the firms’ climate efforts were still at an early stage.
Plant-based options
An international study, published by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, found that the emissions of plant-based burger patties are approximately 65 to 90% lower than their meat-based counterparts.
All of the fast food chains that the Finnwatch managed to examine offer meat-free alternatives, but it found differences in how those options were promoted to encourage customers to order them.
The watchdog said it found Hesburger and Kotipizza to be the best at promoting foods that would help reduce emissions, according to “yle“.
But food chain players need to review their product to stay competitive in the rapidly changing protein products market, according to “EY“.
Key food market players must start building a resilient and connected supply chain that can resist geopolitical and environmental changes.
Anticipated high growth rates in the plant-based meat segment are expected to be the result of favorable developments on both the demand and the supply side.
Many factors are driving the shift in consumer demand from animal protein to alternatives: sustainability issues, health awareness, ethical or religious views, the environment and animal rights. The alternatives market reached US$14.1b in 2021 and is forecast to reach US$17.4b in 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.7%, through 2022-27, reshaping the dairy and meat industries in particular.1 Developments on both the demand and the supply side are fueling this growth in spite of headwinds that include disrupted supply chains, raw material shortages and input price increases.
As a result, food chain players have started — or should contemplate — reviewing their product strategy in the alternative meat segment and the reimagined food system. An understanding of future consumer behavior and dynamics across markets and channels – including the effects of recent geopolitical and climate-related developments, the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising cost of food – is critical.
Finnwatch also tried to reach so-called virtual restaurants, also known as ghost kitchens, in order to assess their climate efforts.
Ghost kitchens are food service businesses that only serve customers via delivery, and do not have customer-facing operations.
Food delivery services in Finland sell meals from virtual kitchens, but none of the companies behind the kitchens — including Better Food Group, Munchfam and Spoon Group — responded to Finnwatch’s questions, nor provided information about their climate-related activities.
“Their silence raises serious questions about whether these companies understand their responsibilities about climate issues, Leipola said.