Cutting Emissions While Feeding the Future: How AVE Rolled Out 400,000+ Low-Carbon School Meals
Added Value Enterprises (AVE) is a leading food procurement and consultancy firm, driving smarter, healthier, and more sustainable catering across the UK. With a footprint in over 2,000 primary schools, covering 8% of the national market, AVE plays a critical role in shaping what the next generation eats.
To strengthen its service offering, in 2023, AVE turned to Klimato to gain access to CO₂ calculations, carbon‑labeling features, and reporting and menu analysis. With a sustainable solution, AVE could easily convert complex environmental data into actionable insights for chefs, procurement teams, and pupils alike.
CLIENT
AVE
Location
United Kingdom
Industry
B2B Procurement & Consulting
Uses Klimato for
Carbon labeling, reporting, and menu development
“Our clients submit their menus to us, and using Klimato, we run a multi-faceted analysis, looking at compliance, cost, nutrition, and sustainability. Klimato’s helped raise climate awareness for our clients. Its tools formulate clear targets and provide actionable data to support businesses in putting their best foot forward to maintain those positive outcomes.”
— Danielle Smith, Head of Food & Nutrition at AVE
The Challenge
Following the UK Government’s “Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy for Education”, which puts decarbonization expectations on school caterers, AVE set out to find a credible carbon‑reporting solution that would improve their service offering for the relevant clients.
The company needed a scalable, user‑friendly platform that could deliver accurate, granular carbon data and generate comprehensive reports. This would serve to help over 1,200 UK schools adapt their menus, accommodating lower‑carbon dishes without sacrificing cost, nutrition, or appeal. That’s where Klimato came in, bringing innovation to sustainability.
THE SOLUTION
Klimato serves as a primary data resource for AVE, allowing them to present cost, nutrition, and carbon details onto a single dashboard, saving considerable time and research for their clients. Keeping the Klimato software itself behind the curtain, AVE provides their catering customers and end‑clients with the finished seasonal menus, a three‑page carbon‑footprint report, and color-coded A-E climate labeling icons displayed next to each dish.
Data-driven decision making on ingredients
Klimato’s ingredient level CO e calculations feed directly into AVE’s menu impact reports, giving chefs clear insights and recommendations regarding cost, nutrition, and carbon footprint. As a result, chefs have embraced data‑driven recipe tweaks and refinements such as reducing red meat, replacing meat protein with alternative protein sources, and ensuring correct portion sizes.
Carbon labeling for menus and sales presentations
AVE uses carbon labeling not only as a sustainability measure but also as a powerful sales tool. It routinely embeds carbon labels in seasonal menu launches, as well as customers’ sales presentations, turning climate data into a compelling differentiator that supports contract wins that adds bottom line value for all parties.
Furthermore, through Klimato’s carbon labeling comparisons, for example, road‑mile CO₂ equivalents, AVE equips its primary school clients to present climate data in a way that resonates with children.
“We partnered with Klimato not out of industry pressure, but because it was the right choice for our clients. Its intuitive interface is incredibly easy to use, its three‑page reports slot perfectly into the way we build recipes and menus, and its reporting capabilities outshine other solutions we have encountered.”
— Ed Wright, Innovation & Growth Director at AVE
THE RESULT
Klimato’s carbon data and reporting have resulted in astounding results for both AVE and its clients:
• 15 million ton carbon reduction: Primary school menus now emit far less CO₂e than the global average for the same number of meals, equivalent to taking 3.2 million cars off the road for a full year.
• 220,000 more low-carbon menu options: The new primary menus have increased A & B-rated meals by 1%, producing 15 million low-emission meals per year.
• Reduced each child’s footprint by 30g per day: Scaled across a 38‑week school year, Klimato’s data enabled AVE to develop menus that created a major impact on an individual level.
• Continuous decarbonization at scale: Even with AVE’s business growing 30% in the last three years, average dish emissions have fallen by an average of 4.92% year-on-year across the entire menu.
Klimato makes it easier to reduce emissions from food and meet sustainability goals
Klimato helps AVE cut emission, and costs, while hitting sustainability targets. With over 50 million meals served yearly, AVE now runs a scalable, data-driven program that shows clear climate impact and operational savings. Klimato is also co-developing a custom AI to embed carbon tracking directly into AVE’s systems, driving automation and reducing manual work.
Thanks to Klimato’s insights, AVE has tightened its supplier code of conduct, raising standards across sourcing, packaging, and certifications. This not only lowers emissions but also boosts efficiency and purchasing power across the supply chain.
CALCULATE FOR THE FUTURE. CREATE DATA-LED RESULTS TODAY.
