New data reveals that serving a Moving Mountains plant-based burger, instead of a beef burger, emits 92% less CO2e

Moving Mountains, the UK company involved in plant-based meat alternatives, is celebrating World Vegan Month 2023 by partnering with food emissions experts, Klimato to analyze Moving Mountains’ full product range. The brand can now reveal how much CO2e restaurants can save from being emitted with every Moving Mountains product served, compared to their meat counterparts.

Reducing the impact on our planet remains one of the key motivations for the increase in veganism and growth of the plant-based meat industry. But, when faced with an issue the scale of climate change, it does raise questions regarding how much difference one customer, or one swap, can really make. Showing customers and restaurant owners the impact of their plates on the planet is Moving Mountains’ ultimate goal for World Vegan Month 2023.

The data from Klimato shows that even small acts can move mountains, and even something as small as putting Moving Mountains on a menu, with the collective power of consumer choice, these small swaps at scale can make a huge difference. For example, when a restaurant serves 1,000 Moving Mountains burgers to customers, instead of beef burgers, a total of 4,244kg CO2e is saved from being emitted into the atmosphere, and each meal’s carbon footprint is reduced by 92%. This is the same as driving for 3,470km in a passenger car to Cairo in Egypt from London, or using a smartphone for 180.7 years (E-Distance & Klimato).

Klimato’s cutting-edge Life Cycle Assessment methodology takes into consideration all aspects of the supply chain from raw materials sourcing to manufacturing, transport, storage, and packaging. The new data now makes it possible to see the everyday comparisons between Moving Mountains’ plant-based range and their meat alternatives, helping customers and restaurant owners easily understand the difference they can make through simple swaps.

As plant-based leaders within the hospitality industry, Moving Mountains is on a mission to highlight the impact that regular meat has on the environment with its imminent impact calculator launch – a tool hosted on the company’s website which allows consumers to compare plant-based and meat serves and products.

The food industry accounts for up to a third of all global emissions, which means that consumers’ current eating habits have a bigger impact on the climate than all global transport combined. To put this into context, an average individual’s lunch or dinner in Northern Europe has a carbon footprint of 1.7kg CO2e per dish which is more than three times the recommended amount set out by the UN, in order to reach its target sustainability goals for Agenda 2030.

“We recognize that there needs to be a complete global transformation of the food industry and the way we consume and think about our meals," said Eloise Bristow, Head of Marketing at Moving Mountains. "But when faced with a challenge as huge as climate change, it’s easy for people to feel demotivated and like our actions are powerless. But at Moving Mountains we believe in the impact of small swaps at scale. We want to show people that we are still in the driving seat shaping our own future, and that something as seemingly insignificant as what we put on our plates can genuinely make a huge difference to our planet.

“Working with experts such as Klimato on our product Life Cycle Assessments help us show people the impact they can make, and also allows us to delve deeper and see where we can further reduce our own impact as a business”.

"It’s been a real pleasure working with a plant-based industry leader like Moving Mountains and supporting them towards their sustainability goals," added Ollie Judge, Head of Marketing at Klimato. "The Life Cycle Assessments we performed on their products showed truly impressive results: to mention just one, a Moving Mountains burger emits 92% less CO2e than its meat equivalent. Carbon literacy on food is still far from adequate, which is why we believe raising awareness and educating customers and stakeholders on food-related emissions is key in this industry. We are proud to have partnered with Moving Mountains on this journey and impressed by their commitment and results. Small choices really can move mountains!"