Reducing the climate emissions per meal is our most important sustainability goal. Leijona Catering Oy is one of Finland’s largest food service companies and the food ingredients cause over 90 % of the carbon footprint of our operations.
We can reduce the climate emissions of food by several different means that we at Leijona strive to use in a well-balanced manner. To reduce the share of animal-based protein in meals, while maintaining customer satisfaction and reducing food loss, plays the biggest role.
Changes in the ingredients and recipes are gradually made so that we will achieve our 30 % emission reduction target by year 2025.
We grow the vegetables’ share in our recipes in many ways. Legumes i.e. peas and beans are already traditionally a part of the Finnish diet, and they have a small carbon footprint. Leijona Catering is also a participant in a research project, started in 2020, that concentrates on the increased use of legumes. Any changes to recipes are done with moderation, listening to the needs of our clients, as the most futile source of climate emissions is food waste.
The results of Leijona’s climate emissions calculations are published annually as a part of our annual report. The calculation is based on a carbon footprint study done for Leijona Catering by the Natural Resources Institute Finland in 2019 and includes emission factors for over 80 food ingredient categories. Other emission information sources are energy consumption data from our partners (landlords) and to complete any gaps we use extrapolated values. We report our annual climate emissions as gross totals excluding any possible carbon compensations. Our emissions calculation and sustainability report were test-audited for the first time in 2023 which gave useful information in preparing for the sustainability reporting regulation of the European Union.
Climate labels for main courses
We think it’s important that our customers are able to make good choices also for the climate when choosing their lunch. To support that, we have implemented climate labels for the main courses in the staff canteens we run for the Finnish government and also in one student canteen. The emission calculations per portion are based on the same emission factors as is our total emissions calculations.
The climate emissions have been calculated for each main course and its usual side dish (potato, pasta, or rice). The results are divided into four colour-coded categories ranging from the dark green of the best climate-choice to the emission-heaviest red.
Future of food production: farming sequesters carbon and cultivation improves biodiversity
The journey to emission-free food production is a long one. There are big differences in the primary production methods: conventional farming is typically an emission source whereas regenerative farming has potential to sequester carbon back to the soil. Therefore, our future goal is to select regeneratively farmed ingredients to the menus of Leijona Catering. In Finland the development and standardization of regenerative farming is supported by the Carbon Action business platform initiated by Baltic Sea Action Group. Leijona Catering joined the platform in the beginning of 2022.
Each phase of regenerative farming adds to the carbon content and nutrients in the soil; and on the other hand, thanks to the invisible activity of the plants and microbes, the carbon and the nutrients stay in the soil. This benefits both the farmer themselves and the surrounding nature. Carbon Action also offers the companies in the food chain more information of this important phenomena via their free online course. Leijona Catering was one of the participants in finalizing this intensive learning package in 2024.
Read more about our participation in the Baltic Sea Work, our sustainable development goals and environment policy.