Carbon food labels are rapidly moving from experimental initiatives to a mainstream trend, with significant developments indicating they are poised to become widespread. The global market for carbon-labelled packaged meals is projected to reach USD 1,252 million by 2035, reflecting a growing consumer demand for climate-conscious food choices.
In a move that could reshape the food industry’s supply chains, Unilever announced in June a comprehensive plan to introduce carbon footprint labels on all 70,000 of its products, a major step toward transparency and sustainability, though a specific timeline for full rollout has not been clarified.
While the UK government currently has no plans for mandatory eco-labelling, industry-led schemes are gaining momentum, with companies like Oatly, Quorn and Just Eat already implementing carbon labels on products and menus.
Related: These Food Companies Put Their Carbon Footprint On Their Packaging, Ecochain, 25 June 2025
Voluntary initiatives are expanding across various sectors, including universities (e.g., Bournemouth University Food) and event venues (e.g., ExCeL London), where carbon footprint information is being integrated into menus and food service.
And carbon labelling fever is hitting Europe as well. As part of its Single Market for Green Products Initiative, which was launched in 2013, the European Commission is advancing a mandatory Product Environmental Footprint (“PEF”) labelling scheme to standardise carbon and environmental data across food and other goods, creating a unified system across the European Union.
PEF is supported by Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (“PEFCRs”), which standardise calculations for specific product groups such as beer, clothing, IT equipment, leather and pet food.
The pilot phase of the PEF ran from 2013 to 2018. From 2019, the project has been in the “transition phase” focusing on monitoring the implementation of existing PEFCRs, developing new ones and advancing methodological developments. The “transition phase” is expected to be concluded this year. “After the transition phase, the [Environmental Footprint] methods are expected to enter a phase of more stability and gradually wider application,” the European Commission says.
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