How Food Businesses Can Prepare for CSRD Reporting in 2025

This guide focuses on what preparation looks like in practice, especially for restaurants, caterers, hotels, and food producers navigating complex supply chains.

Why preparation matters even if your reporting deadline is later

CSRD readiness is not just about regulatory compliance. For food businesses, emissions reporting increasingly influences procurement decisions, investor expectations, and corporate partnerships.

Companies that establish carbon accounting processes early often experience:

• Faster assurance processes
• Stronger supplier engagement
• Clearer internal decision-making based on emissions data

Step 1: Confirm applicability and timing

Start by identifying which reporting wave your organization falls into and how Omnibus proposals could affect your timeline. Even if your reporting obligation is postponed, building internal processes early reduces pressure later.

Focus areas:

• Organizational boundaries
• Entity structure within the EU
• Supplier exposure to in-scope companies

Step 2: Establish a Scope 1–3 baseline

Rather than waiting until reporting begins, many organizations start by building a GHG Protocol-aligned emissions baseline.

For food businesses, this often includes:

• Ingredient and supplier data
• Packaging and logistics emissions
• Waste and end-of-life impacts

Step 3: Map disclosures to ESRS requirements

Once emissions data exists, the next step is translating operational insights into structured disclosures aligned with ESRS standards.

Key considerations include:

• Double materiality assessments
• Clear documentation of methodologies
• Alignment between sustainability teams and finance teams

Step 4: Strengthen data systems and supplier collaboration

Many food businesses discover that spreadsheets quickly become a bottleneck when preparing for CSRD. Procurement systems, recipe data, and supplier information often need to be integrated into a unified carbon accounting workflow.

Priority actions:

• Identify top-impact suppliers
• Request standardized emissions data
• Track assumptions and data sources for assurance readiness

Step 5: Prepare for assurance early

Verification is one of the biggest shifts under CSRD. Auditors expect traceable documentation, consistent methodologies, and clear governance structures.

Early preparation typically involves:

• Version control of emissions data
• Defined ownership across departments
• Clear internal review processes

Companies that build assurance workflows early often avoid last-minute reporting challenges.

Common challenges food businesses face with CSRD preparation

Treating Scope 3 as optional
ESRS reporting is materiality-based, but in food systems Scope 3 is often central due to supply-chain emissions.

Relying heavily on spend-based estimates
Activity-based data provides stronger audit trails and more actionable insights.

Waiting for regulatory clarity before acting
Organizations that begin data collection early adapt more easily to evolving requirements.

How Klimato supports CSRD preparation

Klimato helps food businesses build structured carbon accounting workflows aligned with both GHG Protocol methodologies and CSRD disclosure requirements.

Key capabilities include:

• Scope 1–3 calculations based on procurement and operational data
• Ingredient-level emissions insights
• ESRS-ready reporting outputs
• Supplier engagement tools and audit trails

This allows sustainability teams to shift from manual reporting toward consistent, repeatable processes.

FAQ: Preparing for CSRD reporting in the food industry

Q: Do all food businesses need to prepare now?
A: Even companies outside immediate reporting scope are increasingly asked to provide emissions data by in-scope clients and partners.

Q: Is Scope 3 always required?
A: Scope 3 reporting depends on materiality, but in food systems it is often considered material due to agricultural supply chains.

Q: What’s the biggest challenge in CSRD preparation?
A: Many organizations struggle with fragmented data sources and lack of supplier visibility.

Q: We’re not reporting until 2028/2029. Should we wait?
A: No. You’ll still need verifiable Scope 3 data for customers and tenders; building systems and supplier engagement now reduces assurance friction later.