FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We regularly add ingredients to our database to reflect the evolving availability of food emissions data. If you can't find an ingredient, start by searching for a synonym (e.g. squash vs. zucchini) or a similar product (e.g cabbage vs. white cabbage).

If you still can’t find your ingredient, feel free to send us a message at support@klimato.com and we can suggest a substitute ingredient. We can also add it to our queue of missing ingredients requests but the upload time may vary.

We always aim to stay updated with the latest research and climate values but country-specific values may not always be available. This is a limitation of the literature available but this is improving over time.

If you can’t find the correct country of origin we suggest you use ‘Unknown origin’ which represents the average of the available data in our database.

Sometimes it can be difficult to know where your ingredients are from and how they have been produced. For these cases, we suggest you use ‘Unknown origin, conventional’ to use an average value which is the best estimate we can provide.

Please try to convert the amount of the ingredient you are using to an alternative that is available. You can also email support@klimato.com to inform us that a conversion is missing so that we can update the units if possible.

You need to add a minimum of two ingredients in order to see the total climate impact of a recipe. If you have added two ingredients and still do not see a climate label, please contact support@klimato.com.

Conventional farming uses synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer to achieve high yields and high economic inputs. Fields are rarely left with cover crops and monoculture are favoured. When animals are raised following conventional practices, they might be housed in full confinement structures, and the feed is produced following a conventional farming approach. Moreover, vaccines, antibiotics, and growth hormones are often used.

Organic farming emphasizes rotating crops, managing pests naturally, diversifying crops and livestock, and improving the soil with compost additions and animal manures. It discourages the use of genetic engineering seeds, antibiotics, synthetic pesticides, and fertilizers.

It is a common misconception that organic produce always has a lower carbon footprint than conventional produce, but this is not always the case. The carbon footprint of organically-produced food is highly dependent upon crop type or animal type, product yield, and many other factors. However, organic produce can have significant benefits for human health, biodiversity, soil health and more. Read [here] to learn more.

Klimato sets the system boundaries from cradle to distribution, including agricultural production, processing, packaging and transport. Food losses at every stage are also included. When statistical Land Use Change (defined as the contributing to climate change when the land transformation has occurred in the past 20 years) is included in the assessed studies, Klimato includes it in the overall carbon footprint of food.

Meals rated A and B are in line with the Paris Agreement goal, or at least allow us to be on a good path to limit temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050.

A-rated meals (very low) have a carbon intensity (carbon footprint of a standardized full-size meal of 400g) of less than 0.40 kg CO₂e/meal and are in line with the Paris Agreement goal to limit temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

B-rated meals (low) have a carbon intensity of between 0.40 and 0.90 kg CO₂e/meal and are in line with the targets set for 2030. These meals put us on a good path for 2050. Aligned with the Coolfood, a World Resources Institute initiative. See more here - https://coolfood.org/.

When creating a new recipe or editing an existing recipe, go to the recipe settings in the left panel of the calculator. Here you can manage languages translations for recipe titles and subtitles. In the modal that pops up, you can select languages and either translate manually or with the auto-translate function. If the title is modified in the primary language, it does not automatically overwrite the translations until auto-translate is reapplied. To remove languages from your recipe, delete them from the recipe settings in the left panel using the delete icon.

Yes! While in the recipe calculator, on the left hand side you can select to show ingredient bags. Here you can choose to add an existing bag to your recipe or create a new bag by clicking "New Ingredient Bag" and following the steps in the modal that pops up. Once you are done and have saved your ingredient bag, you will find the new bag and existing bags in the “Ingredients bags” section in the left panel. Note that when an ingredient bag has been added to a recipe, subsequent changes to the bag do not get reflected in the recipes it’s already been added to.

Yes! Once you have saved a recipe, you can find it within your recipe bank on the recipe page. From here you can click the recipe to open the recipe info window, then select “Edit recipe” to make changes to your existing recipe.

The more ingredients you add, the more accurate your recipe’s carbon footprint will be. We recommend that you add as many ingredients as you can. Since animal-based products usually have a high climate impact, we recommend you add them to the recipe. Sometimes a specific ingredient might not exist, if this is the case please refer to the FAQ “I can’t find the ingredient I’m looking for...”.

The number of servings can be added to a recipe in the top left hand corner of the recipe modal. If you are unsure of the number of servings, use 400g as a serving size and divide the full mass of the recipe by this value to obtain the number of servings. You can then use this number in the field in the top left hand corner.

If it is part of the cooking process (e.g. water for cooking pasta, to marinate...), then no.

If the water is an ingredient that features in the final meal (e.g. water for creating a broth that is then eaten in the meal, such as ramen) then yes. If you have already added liquid stock as an ingredient then you don't need to add water.

If you are unsure, we recommend that you do not add water.

The Klimato label gives two key pieces of information: the absolute CO2e emissions per serving (kg CO2e/serving) and a rating (A-E) based on the item carbon intensity which is the carbon footprint of a standardized full-size meal of 400g. This allows for fair comparison between servings with different portion sizes. In the recipe calculator and on menus, it is also possible to display the absolute kg CO2e as per 100g instead of per serving.

You can read more about our labels here.

The A-E rating is linked to the absolute emissions value but is representative of the carbon intensity of an average meal, which is defined as 400g. Therefore, the numerical value is the absolute CO2e emissions per serving as inputted into Klimato, and the rating is the CO2e emissions of the dish if it were a 400g portion. The advantage of this rating system is that it ensures a fair comparison between servings with different portion sizes such as a canape vs. a main meal.

No! You can use the rating only label if you think this would be more optimal for your menus or customers. Just make sure that you communicate the right information as per our Label Use Guide. If you don't already have our Label Use Guide, please contact support@klimato.com.

When creating a menu you can use the recipes within your restaurant or your entire organization. When adding a recipe to a menu, you'll see a restaurant or organization icon on the right hand side of the recipe selection dropdown box, to differentiate between your options.

To create menus in different languages, select the "Language" tab in the right panel. Here you can choose the language for your menu. This will automatically translate your recipes into the chosen language. If you want to customize a specific recipe title's translation you can do this by either editing the recipe in the calculator and adding a language from the recipe settings, or you can click on the recipe block in the menu creator and “rename” it locally for this specific menu.

Sales & event reports enable you to understand the following key metrics:

Average kg CO2e per meal - a meal is defined as 400g and your average is compared to the global average of 1.6 kg CO2e per meal by default

Low CO2e servings - the number of servings sold with a rating of A or B. Dishes rated A or B are aligned with the UN’s Paris Agreement climate goals.

Carbon footprint - the total amount of CO2e released for the meals sold in the reporting period.

If you do not know the exact number of portions in a recipe, we recommend using 400g as a reference value for the weight of a typical lunch or dinner dish. Then, if you have a batch recipe weighing 10kg, this will be 25 portions.

Yes! Klimato's procurement report feature allows you to upload your food & beverage procurement data to create an emissions report. We associate your purchases with an emission factor from the Klimato Database and we provide you with the calculation of the total emissions that arise from it. We give you insights on the most impacting products and ingredients to help you reduce your food procurement emissions. The results can be used in Scope 3 category 1 of a full Scope 1, 2, 3 emissions assessment as the calculation follows the GHG Protocol's standards. This feature is only available for customers with our Professional subscription, if you'd like to learn more, please contact support@klimato.com.

Yes! Klimato can help you develop decarbonisation strategies once you have begun sales and/or procurement reporting. We can also help you set ambitious targets to reach your sustainability goals, including net zero goals.

If you'd like to learn more, please contact your assigned Customer Success Manager or support@klimato.com.

Yes! Klimato applies a structured and comprehensive methodology to guide organisations through the data collection process, calculation of Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions, and creation of a final report. As a licensed GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) software & tools partner (see here), Klimato’s methodology is grounded in existing accounting and reporting standards from the GHG Protocol and reporting standards from the GRI.

If you'd like to learn more, please contact your assigned Customer Success Manager or support@klimato.com.

There are many ways to reduce impact. A good place to start is to reduce or substitute the amount of dairy and/or meat in your dish (especially ruminant animals such as beef and lamb). For further guidance, check out our food swaps guide here. If you have further questions, please contact support@klimato.com.

Our expert food scientists have developed country-specific databases for the climate impact of thousands of different food ingredients. Our methodology has been reviewed and approved by the World Resources Institute and the Swedish Environmental Research Institute.

Emissions values are collated from literature sources such as peer reviewed papers, conference proceedings and open source databases published from 2009 to 2024. The studies follow attributional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the ISO-standardized method (ISO 14040-14044) used to calculate the carbon footprint of products, services, and processes. Klimato takes into account emissions from cradle to distribution. This includes agricultural production, land use change, processing, packaging and transport. Food losses at every stage are also included.

The climate impact of a recipe is in turn the sum of each ingredient's carbon footprint value added to the recipe, with respect to the amount, country of origin and production method of each ingredient expressed in kg CO2e with a rated provided in kg CO2e/meal.

Cows are ruminant animals and their digestive systems undergo a process called enteric fermentation. During this process cows expel methane, which is a very strong greenhouse gas and therefore contributes more to global warming compared to other animals, such as chicken for example.