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Carbon labelling on our menus
Thoughtful food choices can shape your entire dining experience. That’s why we’re making it easier for you to choose food and drink options with sustainability in mind. Next time you join us, you’ll notice that we’ve started carbon labelling our menus, a simple step that we believe could have a meaningful impact.
What is carbon labelling?
Every dish we eat has an environmental impact. Carbon labelling provides a simple indication of this impact, usually shown as a meal's carbon footprint (CO2). It helps you understand the impact of your food in a clear and accessible way.
At Unity Place, you’ll see one of five carbon labels across our menus:
These labels work in a traffic-light system. Label A (deep green) is for the lowest-carbon meals we have on offer. Label E (red) is for the dishes with the biggest carbon footprint by comparison.
These labels don’t limit your food options. Instead, they empower you to choose what feels right for you – just like a price tag does, or a list of ingredients.
How does carbon labelling on menus work?
We can better assess the impact of our sustainable dining choices when we’re armed with the right information. For instance, when we know how much carbon dioxide was generated by a dish’s journey from farm to fork.
But don’t worry, you don’t need to do the maths. Foodsteps, the team behind the carbon labels we’ve started using, have done it for you. With their traffic-light system, you can quickly check where the dish you’re eyeing up sits on our carbon scale.
You can also see how your food choices stack up against other, everyday behaviours. The labels will show you the emissions of each dish in kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This lets you see how they compare to driving your car or charging your phone, for example.
Why we’re carbon labelling our menus
We’re excited to add carbon labels across our dining options, from Rye’s Deli to our sustainability-focused workplace catering solutions. Here’s why.
Labels could spark new, mindful decisions
Feel-good decisions should be easy to make. That’s why we believe in putting the information you need to do so right in front of you.
You might notice our carbon labels when picking up lunch during a busy workday, catching up over coffee or choosing dishes at an evening event. Whenever you do, you’ll be empowered to make choices that suit your mood, tastes and values.
Transparency is key to sustainable events catering
Unity Place is also a destination for conferences, meetings and events, where food plays a big part in the overall experience.
If you’re an event organiser looking for eco-friendly catering, carbon labels provide an extra layer of visibility over the food you’ll be serving up. They could help you find a catering partner that aligns with your ESG values and demonstrate to attendees that you’ve thought about responsible catering.
Great food is always a talking point for delegates. Carbon labels could spark further conversation and create a shared sense of purpose, one that stays long after the event wraps up.
Are you interested in hosting an event at Unity Place? Whether it’s a flavourful work lunch at our Urban Food Market or a sunset drinks reception in our Sky Lounge, our hub brings sustainable catering and the Milton Keynes community together.
Labels will help our sustainability journey along
Did you know that food production is responsible for just over a quarter of the world’s total carbon emissions? This means there’s a big opportunity for us in the food world to reduce our carbon footprint and make it easier for diners to do the same.
Carbon labelling is just one part of our ongoing sustainability journey. Nevertheless, we think it’s important. By spotlighting where we’re providing low-carbon meals and where we could make more progress, these labels will feed into the other decisions we make, like sourcing.
Adding carbon labels is a simple step that all coffee shops, co-working hubs and community spaces can make, so we’re excited to see it become a standard part of dining out!
Serving up a better connected future
At Unity Place, food is about more than just great taste. It’s about thoughtful choices, shared community experiences and doing things in a way that feels good for everyone.
If you’d like to join us, explore our food and drink options and see what takes your fancy. You’re welcome to dine, work or relax; the choice is always yours.
