Fast-casual chain Sweetgreen announced today that it plans to make its business carbon neutral by 2027. The company says it will achieve this through its decisions around ingredient sourcing, building design, and energy usage, among other things.
To reach this goal, Sweetgreen worked with climate-focused company Watershed, which makes software that can measure a business’s carbon footprint across every single touchpoint. Sweetgreen built its action plan for going carbon neutral around the results of that exercise.
For example, the company commissioned carbon assessments of its ingredient suppliers to get some of the more fine-print details, such as how the supplier handles manure and how much feed it uses. These calculations were included in Sweetgreen’s overall measurement of its own business. Going forward, the numbers will inform sourcing decisions (Sweetgreen did not share actual data). Ditto for menu development, which goes hand-in-hand with ingredient sourcing. Sweetgreen said today that it will introduce “even more plant-forward salads and soil-friendly ingredients” to its menu.
The company also said it is “conducting an entire assessment” of the research and development process around new physical stores, from building materials used to furniture to finding more efficient means of energy.
The details of how Sweetgreen plans to achieve some of these goals, and what its stores will look like as the company treks towards them, are not yet extensively available. How, for example, will the company integrate its carbon neutrality goals into its new drive-in store format? How will the Sweetgreen menu change based on the chain’s suppliers?
The company said in today’s press release it will share more progress as it happens.
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