Better than meat from animals: Plant-based meat from Planted saves up to 87% greenhouse gas emissions and up to 90% water

Swiss foodtech startup Planted, known for its plant-based meat made from all-natural ingredients, publishes updated product eco-balance calculations. These prove: Planted meat has a significantly better footprint in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption than animal counterparts. The figures were calculated by independent expert Eaternity. 

 

 

Kemptthal, Switzerland, 01 March 2023-. The current food system is based on resource exploitation and commercial livestock farming. It is unsustainable, destroys our environment and accelerates climate change - putting the food security of 8 billion people at risk. Swiss foodtech startup Planted wants to change the market, saying it's time for a shift toward healthy plant-based eating habits. To back up this push and to monitor and document the environmental impact of its own products, the company has, for the first time in 2019/2020, set up a life cycle assessment for its four core products. Now Planted is publishing a late 2022 update to its CO2- and water footprints. The analysis reconfirms that Planted's plant-based meat product portfolio is extremely resource efficient compared to similar animal-based meat products, producing 77-87% less CO2-equivalent emissions are produced and 75-90% of water is saved. The calculations were made with the help of Eaternity, an independent expert specializing in the life cycle assessment of food.

 

 

In addition, all of Planted's plant-based meats were again certified with the Eaternity Score. As in 2021, the products received the highest score in all categories: CO2, water scarcity, rainforest and animal welfare.

 

 

Food production has a major impact on global greenhouse gas emissions 

 

Although they provide only 37% of our protein and 18% of our calories, the negative environmental impacts of animal products far exceed those of plant-based alternatives. For example, about a quarter (26%) of global emissions are caused by food, and more than half (58%) of food emissions come from animal products. In addition, agriculture takes up half of the planet's habitable land, and animal agriculture contributes to biodiversity loss as forests and wild lands are converted to fields for growing animal feed. This in turn results in the loss of the natural carbon sink that contributes to cooling global temperatures. Water resources are also polluted by wastewater from livestock operations and further strained for irrigation of feed crops.  

 

 

 

Better than meat from animals - big taste, small footprint 

 

In the Planted Life Cycle Assessment, greenhouse gas emissions (CO2-eq) and water footprint (fresh as well as scarce water) were analyzed on a cradle-to-gate basis and compared to their most similar animal counterparts (e.g., Planted plant-based chicken was compared to animal-based chicken breast).

 

Savings of Planted products compared to animal counterparts in percent  

	CO2-eq	Water
Planted.chicken	77 %	85 %
Planted.pulled	83 %	75 %
Planted.kebab	87 %	85 %
Planted.schnitzel	87 %	90 %

 

Greenhouse gas emissions  

 

The comparison with animal meat products was calculated based on the cradle-to-gate approach. This determined how many CO2-equivalent emissions are emitted during the life cycle of a product until it leaves the production center (including agricultural production of raw materials and their processing). Steps such as transport to the store were not taken into account, as this is similar for both meat products.

The assessment found that all of Planted's retail plant-based meats emitted 77-87% less CO2-eq. The most significant reductions come from the avoidance of emissions from animal agriculture.

Example planted.chicken: planted.chicken is available for 1.62 kg CO2-eq/kg, animal chicken breast for 7.01 kg CO2-eq/kg. This means that planted.chicken produces 77% less CO2-eq emissions per weight of product.

 

Fresh water and scarce water resources  

 

This comparison was calculated to determine how much water is used for crop irrigation as well as potable water, animal housing, slaughter and production. 

The assessment found that all of Planted's retail plant-based meats use 75-90% less fresh water compared to their animal counterparts. This is because large amounts of water are needed to irrigate feed crops, and other resources are also consumed during the animal's life. In addition, all Planted plant-based meats have a very low footprint when water is scarce. This means that the ingredients come from regions where there is little or no water scarcity. 

Example planted.chicken: 1 kg of chicken breast consumes 755 l of fresh water and 204 l of scarce water respectively. Comparing planted.chicken with animal chicken breast, Planted uses 85% less fresh water and 80% less scarce water per weight of product.

 

Savings with Planted products 

 

For Planted consumers, this means that choosing a planted.schnitzel instead of a pork cutlet reduces the climate footprint by 87% CO2-eq per kilogram. While the production of one kilogram of pork cutlet emits the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as a 54 km car journey, the production of planted.schnitzel emits the equivalent of only 7 km.

 

Furthermore, the production of one kilogram of pork cutlets requires the amount of water equivalent to 67 times the cycle of a normal dishwasher. planted.schnitzel requires water quantities of only seven dishwasher cycles, thus saving 90% of water.  

 

For Christoph Jenny, co-founder of Planted, these values underscore that the company is on the right track. "We have made it our goal to offer products that are better than animal meat - and that come without the negative environmental impact associated with animal farming. We want to offer more choices to future generations in exchange for natural products that are good for the planet, healthy and taste great at the same time. The updated assessment shows that our improved recipes, better packaging and modified distribution systems have an even greater impact on carbon and water footprints than previously thought," Jenny said. He added, "We are proud of every step we take and will not stop there. For example, reducing plastics and energy in our supply chain is another important focus."  

 

Vision 

 

Planted is further increasing its impact by launching first (planted.chicken chicken breast in September 2022) and even larger and redder cuts of meat in the future. This will enable consumers to make positive plant-based choices in all situations of daily meat consumption without compromising on taste or texture.