How Sodexo Norway went above and beyond with food sustainability
Sodexo offers high-quality meal services to companies, hospitals, schools, universities and a number of other businesses, striving to offer healthy, balanced meals with seasonal ingredients. Sodexo Norway’s 47 restaurant sites work with Klimato to reach their sustainability goals and lower their environmental impact.
Client
Sodexo
Location
Norway
Industry
Corporate Canteen, Catering
Uses Klimato for
Calculating emissions, Carbon labeling and Sustainability reporting
“We as a huge company on a global scale need to be in front, because if we don’t make changes, who should? So, it’s important to raise awareness about the climate, and it’s also a business opportunity, of course.”
- Christian Hallemyr, Head of Food Platform
The Challenge
Reach their sustainability goals and lower their food-related environmental impact
Sodexo is a household name in Norway, with a total of 47 restaurant sites across the territory. As a large corporation they understand - and are increasingly expected to account for - the impact their business has on the climate. Since 2019, Klimato has been helping Sodexo Norway to reach their sustainability goals and lower their food-related environmental impact.
The Solution
To address this challenge, Sodexo decided to use Klimato’s features in the following ways:
Calculator feature - to measure carbon emissions
Sodexo Norway inputted their ingredients into Klimato’s recipe calculator to map out all their dishes’ carbon footprint. Because of this feature, they have been able to identify emission hotspots in their recipes, and reduce quantities or swap out ingredients with a high carbon footprint.
Carbon Labels - to communicate and educate
Carbon labels are visible on the 47 restaurant menus, helping Sodexo staff to make smarter decisions and inspiring guests to choose more climate-friendly meals. Carbon labels allow Sodexo to raise awareness on food climate impact through their menus, sparking constructive conversation with their customers.
Reporting feature - to track and compare
Sodexo produces monthly sustainability reports to track their development and impact. These reports are based on their sales data and help Sodexo stay on track over time, identifying challenges and opportunities so they can reach their sustainability goals.
Menu creator feature - to easily create weekly menus
The chefs at Sodexo Norway use the menu creator feature in the Klimato tool to create weekly menus across their numerous canteens. The menu creator is a user-friendly feature including several templates. When the chefs type in a recipe on the template, its carbon label appears on the menu automatically. Additionally, these menus can be used when creating monthly reports to make the whole process smooth and seamless.
DIGGING INTO THE NUMBERS
Results
The overall CO2e reduction achieved by Sodexo across all 47 sites is impressive. Since August 2021, the average carbon footprint per dish has plummeted down from 1.2 kg CO2e to 0.5 kg CO2e. More than half of Sodexo Norway’s dishes are low emitting (0.5 kg CO2e or lower). To compare, the average carbon footprint in Scandinavia is 1.7 kg CO2e.
A key site for Sodexo Norway is DNB HQ in Oslo, serving up to 4000 people every day. For the DNB staff canteen, the overall emission reduction per dish from January 2021 to July 2023 has decreased by 25%, from 1.2 kg CO2e to 0.9 kg CO2e. The Klimato tool has enabled Sodexo chefs to be equipped with sustainability knowledge to better plan their menus:
"Using Klimato as a tool within our menu cycle has helped to focus our decision-making processes and brought attention to the carbon impact decisions we make around food and our climate.”
- Alexander Findley, F&B Specialist - Food Platform, Sodexo Norway
The staff at DNB HQ in Oslo was pleasantly surprised in noticing how receptive their guests were towards climate friendlier food options, showing a strong preference for green dishes. This inspired them to make an even bolder move, eliminating all red meat from their menus:
“In general, we have seen that Green dishes (Vegetarian, Vegan) are becoming more popular, around 25% of our daily sales. To further reduce emissions, we don’t have any more red meat in our canteen menu.”
- Stephan Hardi, Food & Beverage Manager at DNB
Canteen manager Filip Cieslik of Sodexo-operated Fortune 500 canteen in Tromsø is another true Klimato champion. As a matter of fact, the canteen frequently tops the Klimato leaderboard, with their overall CO2e reduction per dish from April 2021 to July 2023 decreasing from an already below-average 0.7 kg CO2e to a brilliant 0.3 kg CO2e. With the help of Klimato's recipe calculator, this committed chef and his staff have considerably reduced the emissions of the Fortune 500 canteen by adapting recipes, planning and managing their supply with a focus on sustainability. Filip has committed to educating himself even more on plant-based food and how to swap high emitting ingredients for more climate-smart alternatives:
“With Klimato I have full control and overview of all the products so I can plan my menu and use lower CO2e products. Klimato has taught me that sustainability is the most important key factor in my work. The tool is fantastic, really easy to use and changes my work for the better.”
- Filip Cieslik, Canteen Manager, Sodexo Fortune 500
What the future holds
We’ve seen Sodexo do some great work already, but they’re not planning to settle anytime soon: the corporation set the ambitious goal that by 2025 all their canteens will have an average of 0.5 kg CO2e per meal. They are well on their way to reaching this target, being at 0.7 kg CO2e as of February 2023.
Sodexo, alongside a big chunk of their customers, are mandated by the EU to report on their Scope 3 emissions as of 2024. Therefore, in the coming months they will be using Klimato procurement data reports to calculate and report on the total CO2e of their procurement. This will help them fully comply with regulations and better understand where they can take immediate climate action in their supply chain.
The work we do with large enterprises such as Sodexo, definitely has the biggest impact in terms of reducing carbon emissions, as they serve hundreds of thousands of meals every year and, as big players in the industry, play a big role in setting trends and standards for their competitors and food businesses in general:
“We have had a great partnership and I think that all big companies, all clients, all people should care. And it’s not that big a step to take. Just be interested, be curious, make a choice. Do the right thing.”
- Christian Hallemyr, Head of Food Platform at Sodexo Norway
Klimato makes it easier to Reduce emissions from food and meet sustainability Goals
Through carbon emission calculation, carbon-labeled menus and monthly reports, Sodexo has successfully engaged employees and visitors by empowering them to make informed choices, proving that they are a pioneer within the catering sector. Together with Klimato, Sodexo is proud to continue their journey towards reducing their food’s carbon impact and inspiring future generations to embrace sustainable food cultures.
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