This week, Nestlé Professional USA announced a partnership with the World
Resources
Institute
(WRI) to bring more climate-friendly meals to consumers in foodservice
settings. A WRI initiative, Cool Food Meals menu
certification provides consumers a quick and easy way to spot low-carbon dishes
when shopping or dining out, helping facilitate a shift toward more
plant-forward diets that are better for the climate. The Nestlé Professional
Cool Food Meals — available at dining locations such as retail food courts; convenience
stores; and corporate, hospital and university dining halls — 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," said Perry
Miele, president of Nestlé Professional USA. "We're thrilled to partner with
WRI to become Cool Food Meals Ambassadors and leverage our scale to help Nestlé
Professional customers showcase more sustainable menu choices to diners."
According to recent research, 67 percent of US
consumers are
concerned about the impact of food production on climate change; they have an
opportunity to cut the climate impact of their diet by nearly half just by
eating less meat. Cool Food is an initiative of WRI that helps people and organizations reduce the
climate impact of their food through shifting toward more plant-rich
diets.
Through Cool Food Meals and the Cool Food Pledge, the initiative is focused on
making climate action delicious, so conscientious eaters around the world can
help tackle the quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions that come from food
production. The initiative was launched in October 2020, with Panera Bread
as the first restaurant chain with menu items to receive the Cool Food Meals
certification.
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 will appear 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).
Since Cool Food’s launch, Just Salad’s carbon-labeled menu
items
and Chipotle’s Foodprint app have also emerged to cultivate and meet
growing consumer demand to understand the impact of their food choices.
the exciting potential of cultivated, fermented and plant-based protein innovation
Join us as Aleph Farms, the Better Meat Co, the Good Food Institute and Plantible Foods discuss the latest advancements in cultivated, plant-based, and fermentation-derived proteins — and how incorporating alternative proteins can help brands significantly reduce environmental impacts, while conserving natural resources — Tuesday, Oct. 15 at SB'24 San Diego.
Acquired by
Nestlé in
2017, Sweet Earth has won over flavor-seekers and health-conscious consumers
alike by proving that plant-based food doesn’t have to mean compromising on
flavor. The brand is also at the vanguard of Nestlé's commitment to achieve net
zero
emissions
by 2050 — Sweet Earth will achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. Now, Nestlé
Professional customers will have 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," said Edwina Hughes, head of Cool Food at
WRI. "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."
Foodservice organizations interested in learning more about the Nestlé
Professional/Cool Food Meals partnership or featuring Cool Food Meals-certified
items on their menus can reach out to a Nestlé
Professional representative.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Sep 22, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST