By Yadarisa Shabong
(Reuters) – Catering group Compass said on Monday that 80% of its new clients in the UK this year have requested data on the company’s food waste and other emissions, as they need such information to help them meet their own net-zero targets.
Compass said its UK & Ireland business, which has set a 2030 net zero target and reported its first climate impact report this year, recorded a 20% reduction in Scope 3 emissions this year on food and drink purchases.
“The measurement of food waste is probably the first tangible initiative within that space which is delivering results,” CEO Dominic Blakemore told Reuters in an interview.
The company, which on Monday reported a near 30% jump in adjusted annual operating profit, serves meals to millions of people across 35 countries and caters to the likes of Microsoft, Shell and Harvard Business School.
Food waste is considered one of the biggest emitters as a large amount of food that is produced is wasted.
“It’s becoming critical that we can demonstrate to our clients what we’re doing for them, and equally that our clients can show their colleagues that they care for the environment,” Blakemore said.
Demand from clients for evidence of emissions tracking is similar across all Compass’s regions, Blakemore said, although at a slightly difference pace, with the UK and Europe leading while the United States is “fast catching up”.
Clients in the U.S. technology and financial services sector in particular have requested evidence of emissions tracking, he said.
This year Compass, which owns brands such Eurest, Flik and Chartwells, partnered with carbon assessment startup Planet FWD to improve its methodology for measuring scope 3 emissions.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)
