Carbon Emission and Food Miles

*CO2 Emissions Calculator starting 01st of November 2021 for selected products

What are Carbon footprint and Carbon Emission?

In today’s world and the fast moving economy, we face a challenge that grows day by day - Carbon Emissions. Our actions harm our beloved planet and effect life as we know it for our generation and for the ones to come.

Carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that are generated by human actions. These chemical emissions have proven to be significant contributors to air pollution and play a substantial role in amplifying the greenhouse effect.

By its very nature, carbon dioxide traps radiation at a ground level thus preventing the earth from cooling during the night. This results in warming ocean waters as well as erratic climates and weather patterns. 

Transportation is one of the sources of carbon emissions. Air transport of food typically results in around 10 times more carbon emissions than road transport and around 50 times more than shipping. Hence, all mechanisms to reduce the miles and the mode of transportation will contribute significantly to reducing the carbon footprint of food delivery.  

Fresh on Table has embraced this simple yet powerful concept and is building a new operations model that not only delivers food fresh, but also ensures minimum carbon footprint of food delivery.

Just like a drop in the water that causes a ripple effect our actions are the same. Its time to take action and for each one of us to do our part to save the planet and it all starts with a drop of action that causes a ripple effect throughout the universe for the ultimate goal. 

Our values revolve around supporting sustainability, reducing waste, and reducing carbon emission. We encourage partners from the HORECA industry to source their ingredients from local partnering farms to reduce the carbon emission that would be caused by ordering from overseas. Reducing the journey of the produce thereby has a twin effect of retaining freshness while ensuring that reduced carbon emissions protect our planet. 

We have taken this a step further by leveraging deep technology to track and calculate the carbon dioxide reduced, not just at a macro-level, but in fact at the granularity of each order. 

Fresh on Table has partnered with Carboncare to help calculate the Carbon Emission Saved by sourcing locally through Fresh on Table’s proposition.

Carboncare is the latest and most comprehensive global emissions calculator, based on the Global Standard ISO 14083:2023. It was developed over five years with various partners (industry, ETH, Swiss federal authorities). Over 3.5 million effective, realistic and frequently updated measurements provide the basis for calculations. 

Through our partnership with CarbonCare, we find the carbon emissions of a product which is usually imported from its origin country and then subtract the local Actual carbon emissions when you place orders for the same product from our local suppliers. This provides us with the saved carbon emissions for the product.

This has been integrated with our FoTx platform to help us give you a fairly accurate figure for the contribution you make to reducing CO2 emission every time you choose to order through Fresh on Table. 

As a step further, we are gamifying it to drive deep adoption. We are building the first ever data lake in this domain by compiling data of all carbon emissions saved through above actions. This is done at a micro-granular level that captures the specifics of the farm, the produce, the date, the order quantity and so forth. This rich data set allows us to publish leader boards – for example, who has been the Sustainability Hero of the Quarter and a true Green Star helping our nation in its mission of sustainability.

This resonates with their overall ESG agenda which so much an integral part of responsible sourcing.

The initiative is first of its kind globally and we are very proud to add this to yet another First from the UAE. 

What are food miles and why do they matter?

Food miles are simply the distance the food has traveled from its origin until it reaches the consumer. The higher the distance the food travels, the less fresh it is. Higher food miles not just impact the freshness & quality of the produce but also increase carbon footprint. 

Air pollutants and climate change gases are released when fossil fuels are used for production, transport, and packaging, and hence the carbon footprint increases with every extra mile the food travels.

The fresh produce doesn't stay fresh anymore and loses its nutrient value by 40%-50% within the first 48 hours of harvest. Also, higher food miles not only decreases the nutrient quotient of the fresh produce but also reduces the profit margins of the farmers. With multiple distributor partners, the farmer only gets a small slice of the pie and is always paid unfairly.

At Fresh On Table,  we practise “hyper local” - keep the source of production and consumption closest. Thus food comes straight from the farms to your table, which is fresher, tastier, and environment-friendly. 

We're fair and transparent to our farmers and our restaurant partners. With every purchase you make with us, you can view the food miles you saved by simply choosing local. 

We'll give you credits for every mile you save and will share your story with the world. The more miles you save, the more credits you'll earn and the more rewards you will get.