The food and beverage industry has a critical role to play in addressing climate change — and importantly, the sector has the power to enable consumers to play their part, too.
If you’re looking to sell lower-carbon products, then you need to calculate product carbon footprints (PCFs). Understanding the carbon footprint of individual products is critical for changing consumer and corporate behavior.
Carbon labeling (printing carbon footprint calculations on a product’s packaging) is gaining steam, and there is growing evidence that such labeling reduces overall carbon emissions. Given that food accounts for as much as 10%–30% of a household’s carbon footprint, it’s critical for businesses to act on this information.
Managing product carbon footprints as a part of your carbon accounting process is a vital step for food and beverage brands in creating more sustainable supply chains and contributing to a more transparent food system. This guide explores the methodologies, benefits, and best practices for calculating product-level emissions.
What is a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)?
A product carbon footprint measures the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the lifecycle of a product. This includes emissions from each stage of its journey — from raw material extraction and manufacturing to transportation, use, and eventual disposal (depending on scope; more on that below). By calculating a product’s carbon footprint, businesses can gain valuable insights into the environmental impact of their offerings and importantly, communicate that impact to their customers.
Unlike a corporate carbon footprint (CCF), which looks at a company’s overall emissions, a PCF focuses on a single product. This granular approach allows companies to:
- Identify emissions hotspots within a product’s lifecycle
- Pinpoint opportunities to reduce the carbon intensity of specific products
- Communicate environmental performance to stakeholders, from consumers to investors
Understanding and managing PCFs is becoming increasingly important, particularly in the food and beverage sector, where scope 3 emissions account for the majority of the total impact. As one example, food logistics alone (the transportation, storage, and distribution of food and beverage products) is responsible for around 6% of global emissions.
💡 The Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) are closely related within the GHG Protocol framework. The total emissions from the lifecycle of a company’s products, combined with additional scope 3 emissions (e.g., employee commuting, business travel, and investments), should align with the company’s overall carbon footprint (scope 1 + scope 2 + scope 3).
Both PCF and CCF rely on overlapping datasets, such as supplier and value chain emissions, enabling companies to streamline data collection and maximize efficiency by developing product-level and corporate-level inventories concurrently. This integrated approach supports more comprehensive and accurate emissions accounting.
How is a product carbon footprint calculated?
Calculating the carbon footprint of a product involves quantifying the GHG emissions produced at each stage of a product’s lifecycle. This lifecycle approach ensures that emissions are accounted for comprehensively.
1. The first step is to define the scope of the analysis, which determines which lifecycle stages are included. There are two different approaches for calculating the impact of a product:
- Cradle-to-grave — this covers the entire lifecycle of a product, from raw material extraction (“cradle”) to the product’s end-of-life (“grave”)
- Cradle-to-gate — this covers emissions from raw material extraction to the point where the product hits retail shelves (before it’s distributed to consumers)
2. Once the scope of analysis is defined, you’ll need to define the product’s lifecycle stages and gather data for each stage.
Companies typically collect:
- Activity data — quantities of materials, energy use, transportation distances, and waste generated
- Emission factors — standardized values that indicate GHG emissions per unit of activity (e.g., kg CO₂ per kWh of energy)
3. Then, you’ll apply a calculation methodology suited to your business model (physical-unit, spend-based, or hybrid, as described above).
4. Finally, you’ll analyze and report on your results. Once emissions are quantified, results can be:
- Broken down by lifecycle stage — highlighting hotspots like transportation or production
- Presented as total GHG emissions — typically measured in kilograms of CO₂ equivalent (kg CO₂e) per unit of product
- Compared across products — enabling decision-making on product design, sourcing, and sustainability goals
Methodologies to calculate product-level GHG emissions
Calculating a PCF requires a systematic approach to quantify GHG emissions at every stage of a product’s lifecycle. The methodologies used are the same as those used for calculating a CCF, applied at a more granular scale. Which one you choose can vary depending on the data available, the level of accuracy needed, and the product’s complexity.
Here are the primary methodologies:
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Physical-unit method (also known as “activity-based”) |
Spend-based method |
Hybrid method |
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Determined by tracking the actual physical quantities of materials, and energy associated with the product’s lifecycle |
Determined by multiplying the monetary value of purchased goods and services by an industry average emission factor |
A combined approach that leverages both “spend-based” and “physical-unit” methodologies |
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Pros |
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Cons |
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The choice of methodology depends on your organization’s goals, resources, and data availability. For example, you might:
- Use the physical-unit method for detailed product-level insights and robust lifecycle assessments
- Opt for the spend-based method when starting out or working with limited data
- Adopt the hybrid method for a balance between accuracy and practicality
How can PCF calculations help your business?
PCFs can be a powerful tool for improving operations, enhancing brand value, and driving sustainability leadership. Here’s how PCF calculations can benefit your business:
Identify emissions hotspots
A PCF helps pinpoint where the majority of emissions occur within a product’s lifecycle. For food and beverage companies, you might find emissions hotspots in your raw material sourcing, transportation, or packaging.
Knowing which areas in your supply chain are the most carbon intensive enable you to take targeted actions to meaningfully reduce your climate footprint.
Improve operational efficiency
By analyzing emissions data, businesses often uncover inefficiencies in energy use, logistics, and waste management. For example, switching to renewable energy or optimizing transport routes can reduce both emissions and costs.
Improved efficiency strengthens your bottom line while contributing to your climate goals.
Meet regulatory requirements
PCF calculations, which require producers to track energy inputs, help businesses stay ahead of evolving regulations, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and standards set by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). While sustainability reporting is for emissions at the corporate level, PCF calculations are needed to calculate your corporate carbon footprint.
Transparent reporting demonstrates compliance and builds trust with regulators and stakeholders.
Strengthen brand reputation
Consumers and investors are increasingly drawn to brands that prioritize sustainability. A clear understanding of your product’s carbon footprint enables you to make credible claims about climate responsibility, such as through carbon labeling.
This can enhance customer loyalty, attract eco-conscious consumers, and improve investor confidence.
Lay the groundwork for net zero targets
Your CCF calculations provide the baseline data needed to set ambitious yet achievable net-zero targets — but to calculate CCF, companies must first calculate their PCFs. With clear insights into where emissions occur, you can make targeted investments to address the biggest drivers of your carbon footprint.
Companies that actively manage their product emissions are better equipped to adapt to regulatory changes, consumer expectations, and market dynamics, effectively preparing to operate in a low-carbon economy.
What are the benefits of CarbonCloud solutions?
For food and beverage companies, calculating a product carbon footprint can be challenging due to the complexity of value chains and the significant role of scope 3 emissions. CarbonCloud simplifies this complex process with automated modeling and a robust database covering over 55,000 products and 16,000 crops over 198 countries.
How it works, at a glance:
- Simply provide your bill of materials or list of ingredients
- We map your ingredients to relevant categories and precise items for high accuracy
- Transportation and production inventory are automated based on your bill of materials data
- Our AI engine will automatically calculate the climate footprint of your products using data from our extensive database
By automating calculations and providing data backed with transparent methodologies and technical reports, CarbonCloud helps businesses obtain accurate, verifiable results, enabling them to take targeted actions and report with confidence.
Ready to measure and manage your product carbon footprints?
The CarbonCloud platform can provide you with the granular, comparable data you need to support your sustainability initiatives — whether you’re looking to benchmark against industry standards or add carbon labeling to your best-selling products. Get in touch with our team today to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between LCA and product carbon footprint?
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts of a product or service across its entire lifecycle, including factors like water usage, land use, and pollution, in addition to carbon emissions.
A Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) focuses specifically on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with a product’s lifecycle, expressed in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e).
While PCFs are often derived from LCAs, their narrower scope makes them more actionable for businesses targeting carbon reduction.
What products have the highest carbon footprint?
Products with the highest carbon footprints are typically those involving energy-intensive production processes, significant land-use changes, or emissions-heavy supply chains. Examples include:
- Beef and lamb: these products have high emissions due to methane from livestock digestion, feed production, and land-use changes like deforestation for grazing.
- Dairy products: cheese and butter, in particular, require significant energy and feed inputs, contributing to high emissions.
- Processed foods: emissions are driven by energy-intensive processing, packaging, and long-distance transportation.
Understanding these hotspots can help businesses and consumers make more sustainable choices.
Want more detail? Climate Hub lets you explore the climate footprints of food from around the world, including detailed technical reports.
What products have the lowest carbon footprint?
Products with the lowest carbon footprints are generally plant-based, minimally processed, and locally sourced. Examples include:
- Fruits and vegetables: especially those grown locally and seasonally, requiring fewer resources and transportation.
- Legumes: lentils and beans are not only nutrient-dense but also emit far fewer greenhouse gases compared to animal-based proteins.
- Grains: staples like rice, wheat, and oats generally have lower emissions, particularly when grown in regions with efficient farming practices.
Prioritizing these products can contribute to lower emissions across the food system.
Want more detail? Climate Hub lets you explore the climate footprints of food from around the world, including detailed technical reports.
