Atria to include the carbon footprint of its poultry products in the packaging

Atria has expanded the calculation of the carbon footprint of its poultry products, and a label with the product’s carbon footprint will now be added to all poultry packaging. The label shows the climate impact of the product’s entire production chain in carbon dioxide equivalents. The carbon footprint has been calculated and noted per product item (kg Co2e₂e / product).

Poultry products with the carbon footprint label will be in shops around Finland in June. To avoid wasting packaging material, the carbon footprint labels will be added to products in a phased manner as the packaging material batches change. The label will first be added to unseasoned products, and seasoned products will be labelled by the end of the year.

“Finnish consumers are increasingly aware of the climate impact of food, and announcing the carbon footprint is one way to serve our consumers better. We started adding the carbon footprint to Alatalo farm’s poultry products last year, and as the calculation work proceeds, we will gradually add the label to more and more products,” says Merja Leino, EVP, Sustainability, Atria.

“Atria has set a goal of being a pioneer of sustainability in its industry. We are constantly working on promoting environmental issues. By calculating the carbon footprint of our farms, we will have a better understanding of where the emissions of our operations come from, and how we can reduce them. This is one step on our journey to a truly carbon-neutral food chain by 2035,” Merja Leino continues.

The calculation covers more than half of Atria’s production volume for primary poultry production. It thus represents the average carbon footprint on Atria family farms. In addition to the poultry, the carbon footprint on the package also acknowledges the product’s packaging material, potential other raw materials and the processing emissions allocated to the product. The carbon footprint of Atria’s poultry is 2.56 ± 0.18 CO₂e per slaughtered kilogram (1.87 CO₂e per live weight kilogram).

The carbon footprint was calculated in cooperation with Envitecpolis Oy and 40 Atria poultry farms. Envitecpolis uses the international Cool Farm Tool when calculating the carbon footprint of primary production. The Cool Farm Tool is a special tool for calculating carbon emissions from primary production, and it enables the calculation of carbon footprints based on farm-specific information and operations. Production-related carbon emissions such as energy, packaging materials and washing agents are allocated on the level of the product. The calculations are based on the PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) calculation methods, and the newest scientific information in the field.

Further information about carbon footprint calculations is available on our website: atria.fi/en/group/corporate-responsibility/planet/carbon-footprint2/

For further information, please contact: Merja Leino, EVP, Sustainability, Atria, tel. +358 (0)40 580 1210