Reducing the carbon footprint of our food solutions is at the heart of our mission. Besides working on making our operations more efficient and less wasteful, the customer choice is a core component of the environmental footprint of our products. And transparency is the first step towards more sustainable food choices. 

This is what the Together for Carbon Labelling (TCL) initiative is all about: HelloFresh co-founded the initiative in 2021. TCL is advocating for the introduction of a carbon label to offer consumers full visibility on the carbon footprint of their food choices. The alliance was built by food companies in collaboration with scientists with the goals to establish a scientific advisory board and to develop comparative standards for CO₂e transparency in the food industry - with the goal to push for a regulatory change towards a consumer label. Starting in Germany, the initiative members are working together to change the European food standard.

Together for more transparency: Allies in the food industry and politics 

Consumers face various different labels when they buy food. Sustainability related labels are not unified across countries and also differentiate from product to product. A unified carbon label can help to navigate through the jungle of food labels and give consumers clarity on the environmental footprint during grocery shopping.

Companies like Oatly, Frosta and Veganz joined forces with HelloFresh to discuss a potential scientific methodology for a carbon label and started conversations with policy makers and scientific institutes. 

Roundtable by TCL co-hosted in the German parliament in November 2023 

In 2023, TCL co-hosted three workshops in the German parliament in cooperation with Rita Hagl-Kehl MP (Social Democrats) to discuss the opportunities and challenges of a carbon label with stakeholders from the food industry, academia and civil society. The workshop series provided insights into different perspectives on the topic, shedding light on the scientific debate on the methodology for such a label, research on consumer needs and requirements to develop a solution that is easy to understand, and feasibility to implement a solution across the food industry. 

Together for Carbon Labelling initiative members together with Rita Hagl-Kehl, MP

In June 2024, TCL hosted a political breakfast in the German parliament where the initiative presented the results of the three workshops and discussed them together with Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. Ophelia Nick of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Tanja Asmussen, Team Leader Food & Agriculture, Danish Embassy in Berlin. Tanja Asmussen presented the food carbon label the Danish government is planning to introduce. Their learnings and methodology can serve as inspiration for other European countries.

Political breakfast in the German parliament with Dr. Ophelia Nick and Tanja Asmussen 

HelloFresh’s pathway to full menu transparency

HelloFresh is working towards more carbon transparency in its menu. In 2021 we started to roll out tags in the menu that label HelloFresh dishes with at least 50% less carbon emissions than the average HelloFresh meal. Today this tag is available in all HelloFresh markets and it is an important lever to reduce our food products’ carbon footprint. 

“Decarbonizing our supply chain is at the heart of our mission. The customers’ choice plays an important role to achieve our goals - for example if they choose a vegan over a meat dish. An industry wide carbon label promoted by the government will gain consumers’ trust and enable more sustainable food choices. This is why we at HelloFresh will continue to advocate for more carbon transparency in the food industry and further develop visibility on the footprint of our own product offer” said Tilman Eichstädt, COO Upstream at HelloFresh.