Ecolabel food: game changer for more sustainable food

A reliable environmental score starts with understanding the environmental impact of individual products. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most effective method for assessing total environmental impact. It examines the full product lifecycle—from raw material extraction and production to transport, use and disposal. This helps identify environmental hotspots and enables targeted reduction measures.

Sustainability is high on the political agenda, and new regulations are emerging. It is therefore wise to start collecting and managing sustainability data now. Combining company-specific data with secondary data from the supply chain is often a challenge. However, these data make it possible to optimise products to achieve better environmental scores. A key advantage of sustainable production is that more efficient use of resources, energy and raw materials often leads to cost savings.

Want to learn more about LCA?

In the online knowledge session ‘Measuring environmental impact’, we explain how Life Cycle Assessment works and how to get started.  Please note that the webinar is in Dutch. Watch the webinar.  

Collecting harmonised environmental data is not only valuable for food ecolabelling; the product-specific data behind environmental scores also serves other purposes.

CSRD reporting (scope 3)

As of the 2024 financial year, the EU requires the 50,000 largest companies to report on greenhouse gas emissions across their entire value chain (scope 3). This obligation also extends indirectly to their suppliers and partners, who must provide data. Fortunately, many companies already report voluntarily, for example through the Science Based Targets initiative. The data used to calculate product-level environmental scores for ecolabelling is well-suited for meeting the CSRD requirements.

Incentivising sustainable production

Product-specific data enables organisations to tailor financial terms to sustainability risks. This makes it possible to reward farmers and suppliers for ingredients produced in a more sustainable way. For example, a dairy company that collects farm-level data can pay a higher price to farmers who supply sustainable milk. Such incentives encourage continuous improvement and result in high-quality, sustainable products.

Reduction leads to cost savings

Insight into a product’s environmental impact reveals where improvements can be made. The product-specific data highlights environmental hotspots, showing where the greatest improvements can be achieved. This often involves reducing energy use, packaging materials, raw materials, water consumption or transport. Such reductions not only improve sustainability, but also lead to significant cost savings. 

The Footprint Working Group was launched by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LVVN) to implement the Dutch Climate Agreement, which calls for transparency on the climate impact of all individual food products. The working group includes the following organisations: ABN Amro, Agrifirm, ANEVEI, Avebe, Bidfood, CBL, Central Organisation for the Meat Sector (COV), Cosun, Delinuts, Do it organic, DSM, FNLI, FrieslandCampina, GroentenFruit Huis, HAK, Hutten, InStock, Lidl, LTO, Milieu Centraal, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LVVN), MVO – the chain organisation for oils and fats, NEPLUVI, Rabobank, RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), Superunie, Unilever, Wageningen University & Research (chair), Dutch Brewers Association (Vereniging Nederlandse Brouwers), Dutch Soft Drinks, Waters and Juices Association (Vereniging Frisdranken, Waters en Sappen), Vion.

The group was originally established to implement the Dutch Climate Agreement (in Dutch), which calls for insight into the climate impact of all individual food products. It soon concluded, however, that focusing exclusively on climate would risk neglecting other relevant environmental aspects. As a result, the working group broadened its scope to include the overall environmental footprint of food production and consumption.

Since other countries are also working to reduce the environmental impact of food, the group adopted a harmonised footprint methodology developed by the European Commission: the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). This method sets out how to measure 16 different environmental impact categories and combine them into a single weighted footprint score. Through international coordination, the working group contributes to the development of harmonised environmental footprint calculations across Europe. 

Main activities include:

• Developing a methodology based on PEF that builds as much as possible on existing product-specific approaches. Inconsistencies between product categories are being addressed to enable meaningful comparisons. The method is also being adapted for use across all food categories. In addition, the group is exploring how to measure environmental aspects that are not yet adequately covered.
• Further developing the national environmental database (RIVM) to make the environmental impact of Dutch food more transparent and to enable targeted action for a more sustainable food system. 

Working group updates

April 2025

• An update on the upcoming True Value Language (TVL) initiative by Rabobank, aiming to develop a common set of sustainability indicators for all farmers and growers in the Netherlands. These indicators will serve as the basis for rewarding additional sustainability efforts. The newly proposed PPP for harmonised environmental impact data was also discussed. This initiative focuses on all food products in the Netherlands. Farm-level data will build as much as possible on TVL.
• Planned updates to the Product Environmental Footprint methodology by the European Commission were reviewed, including changes related to climate impact, allocation, recycling and biodiversity.
• An overview was presented of developments in footprinting efforts within both the public and private sectors, in the Netherlands and across Europe. The implications for the working group were discussed. Due to increased collaboration with leading public and private initiatives, the group now has less independent decision-making power.
• Feedback was requested on a proposal for a Global Sustainable Transition Alliance, its governance structure and the potential role of the working group within this framework.
• It was agreed to organise a separate meeting in July to discuss the beta methodology of the Eco Food Choice project. 

January 2025

• An update on the Eco Food Choice project, including layout variants of the label that will be tested. Both an A-to-E scale and a numerical score will be trialled.
• A proposal to initiate a new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) involving all major retailers and food service companies in the Netherlands. The aim is to provide harmonised insight into the environmental impact of all food products.
• Feedback was requested on the applicability of the French Ecobalyse tool in the Dutch context. The tool enables the calculation of environmental impact scores of products. In general, the group responded positively, though several issues remain to be resolved.
• A presentation of the results of a questionnaire distributed among participants regarding footprinting activities in their respective sectors and the functioning of the working group. While there are many initiatives on standard development, broad implementation is still often lacking.

October 2024

• The working group was updated on developments around footprinting and ecolabelling in Europe. Several alliances have been formed in Europe in which groups of companies are working jointly on implementation and harmonisation. WUR is involved in all initiatives. With Impact Buying, for example, we are working with almost all Dutch retailers on piloting a number of private tools. The European Commission is reflecting on the future of PEF in which WUR is also heavily involved. They will launch a new database (EF 4.0) in 2026 that will be free for all to use.
• Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature’s food policy to be reviewed early next year.
• The Strategic Dialogue opinion on future EU agricultural policy prominently includes measurement with KPIs on all farms.
• The project on building the RIVM average environmental impact database for 3,000 products is progressing steadily. The same goes for the European Eco Food Choice project in which European ecolabel standard is being developed. The timing of the projects is becoming more closely aligned, allowing us in the Netherlands to respond to European agreements.
• The group was updated on the relationship between CSRD and PEF. PEF may be used for CSRD, but other less strict guidelines such as GHG protocol may also be used.
• PS in Foodservice and Foodsteps presented their footprinting application for the food service industry. This will make footprints for 180,000 companies available to all food service companies.

A food ecolabel indicates the environmental impact of a food product. By displaying an environmental score on the packaging, consumers can easily see which products have more or less impact on the environment.

A food ecolabel benefits both consumers and organisations. It provides insight into the environmental impact of food, making it possible to produce and consume in a more sustainable way.

A food ecolabel based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) differs from traditional environmental labels such as organic or PlanetProof. Those labels are only awarded to products that meet specific sustainability criteria. In contrast, a food ecolabel assigns a score to all products, making it possible to compare food items both within and across product categories.

A food ecolabel has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of our food. Its strength lies in the harmonised footprint calculations behind it. These make it possible to minimise negative impacts on the environment, climate and natural resources. Want to learn more? Read the study (in Dutch): 'LCA-based labelling systems: Game changer for sustainable food production and consumption in Europe'.

A food ecolabel encourages producers to adopt more sustainable production methods and motivates consumers to make environmentally friendly choices. It promotes transparency, harmonisation and traceability throughout the food supply chain. This leads to greater awareness and better insight into sustainable production and consumption, which can then be used to improve processes.

Various initiatives are underway in food ecolabelling, and developments are moving fast. While numerous private labels already exist, they are difficult to compare due to differing underlying methods. In November 2023, a European project was launched to develop a harmonised label. France is leading the effort, having already built a database and aiming to implement a food ecolabel in the short term. Read more about the Life ECO FOOD CHOICE project.

Footprint calculations are complex. To support Dutch food sector companies, the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LVVN) established the Footprint Working Group. It is chaired by Wageningen University & Research and includes representatives from supermarkets, food processors, feed suppliers and knowledge institutes such as Milieu Centraal and RIVM. Since 2023, the group has been working to expand the existing RIVM environmental database (in Dutch). This effort builds on the French Ecobalyse tool. The project aims to align with European developments so that the Netherlands is prepared for a harmonised system in the near future.

The ecolabel being developed by the working group is based on the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method. This methodology, developed by the European Commission, uses life cycle assessments (LCA) and category-specific rules to calculate a product’s footprint.

In the Netherlands, a database is currently being developed that will contain the average environmental impact of the 3,000 most common food products, based on the PEF method. This database is expected to be ready in 2025. Companies will then only need to indicate how their product differs from the average to calculate their specific score. 

The final score is a weighted average across 16 environmental indicators, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water use and land use.

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires large companies to report on their overall sustainability performance. To do so, they must map the greenhouse gas emissions of all products within the company. This complex indicator is calculated using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which provides insight not only into the environmental impact of the company’s own operations (scope 1) and the energy it consumes (scope 2), but also into the impact of its products and activities throughout the entire value chain (scope 3).

By using the ecolabel scores of all their products, companies can report on this complex indicator in a relatively straightforward way. 
In addition, they can use the underlying data to measure the impact of the measures they have taken together with suppliers to reduce environmental impact. Many companies have set targets under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across their entire value chain. The ecoscore provides a practical tool to track progress towards these goals. 

Many companies begin by measuring their direct emissions (scope 1 and 2). To expand this to supply chain emissions (scope 3), they are turning to life cycle assessments (LCA). 

Curious how others approach this? In the online inspiration session ‘Harmonised environmental impact measurement with PEF’, FrieslandCampina, GroentenFruit Huis, Vion and the Dutch Brewers Association shared their methods and experiences. Watch the webinar (in Dutch).