An examination of fast food companies' climate-friendly practices by corporate watchdog Finnwatch resulted in Kotipizza ranking at the top.
The NGO looked at the practices of major fast-food chains that have at least 50 outlets in Finland. It scrutinised the companies' emissions reports as well as their goals to reduce emissions that affect the climate.
Finnwatch compared seven fast food chains: Kotipizza, Burger King, Hesburger, McDonald's, Rolls, ScanBurger and Subway.
Finnwatch climate expert Lasse Leipola has since explained that the ranking was not as specific as initially reported in this article.
"Based on the collected information, it was clear that there were two groups that could be separated. Then we chose Kotipizza as the best of the better half (Burger King, Hesburger, Kotipizza and McDonald’s) and Subway as the weakest of the bottom half (Rolls, ScanBurger and Subway). But the differences between Burger King, Hesburger and McDonald's were rather small (as they were between Rolls and ScanBurger), so we did not make a further ranking within these groups," Leipola explained in an email.
The NGO said it found major differences in the comparison, with the biggest companies usually having the clearest climate-related goals. One reason for this is that international firms usually have infrastructure for such efforts securely in place — including regular emissions reporting and goals for reducing emissions in future.
According to Finnwatch, the lowest-ranking chain was US-based sandwich giant Subway. Their low ranking was due to the company's failure to publish adequate information about its climate efforts or to respond to Finnwatch's survey, the watchdog explained.
"Subway did not respond to us at all, and we received almost no information about its climate work," Leipola said.
According to Finnwatch, the ranking was based on the fast food companies' climate efforts, not the climate footprint of their products. For instance, it did not compare the climate impacts of a sub sandwich versus a burger and fries, or a pizza.
Fast food chains ScanBurger and Rolls were among others at the bottom of the ranking. This was due to shortfalls that Finnwatch observed in the companies' transparency about climate-related actions, or for failing to meet such targets. The NGO said the firms' climate efforts were still at an early stage.
Plant-based options
Finnwatch noted that the types of raw ingredients fast food firms use play a major role in terms of environmental impacts. It said that meat-based options contributed significantly to carbon emissions. At the same time, it said restaurants offering plant-based meat substitutes help that situation.
An international study (PDF), published by the Institute for Sustainable Futures, found that the emissions of plant-based burger patties are approximately 65 to 90 percent lower than their meat-based counterparts.
All of the fast food chains that the NGO managed to examine offer meat-free alternatives, but it found differences in how those options were promoted to encourage customers to order them.
The watchdog said it found Hesburger and Kotipizza to be the best at promoting foods that would help reduce emissions.
Ghost kitchens
Finnwatch also tried to reach so-called virtual restaurants, also known as ghost kitchens, in order to assess their climate efforts.
Ghost kitchens are food service businesses that only serve customers via delivery, and do not have customer-facing operations.
Food delivery services in Finland sell meals from virtual kitchens, but none of the companies behind the kitchens — including Better Food Group, Munchfam and Spoon Group — responded to Finnwatch's questions, nor provided information about their climate-related activities.
"Their silence raises serious questions about whether these companies understand their responsibilities about climate issues," Leipola said.
29 Jan: Edited to correct a mention of Subway as being "leader" in the ranking. The best among those considered in the better-faring firms was Kotipizza. It was also edited to clarify the NGO's ranking, which was not as specific as initially reported.
31 Jan: Corrected spelling of ScanBurger and other typographical errors.
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