The complexity of food supply chains has long presented challenges for companies seeking to implement effective sustainability strategies and reduce their environmental impact. With Scope 3 emissions representing the majority of most food companies’ carbon footprints, the need for precise, actionable data has never been greater.
HowGood, which operates what it describes as the world’s largest sustainability database for the food industry, is addressing this challenge by providing companies with granular, ingredient-level data that enables more targeted and effective sustainability interventions.
“We work exclusively within this sector because of its uniquely complex supply chains and significant Scope 3 emissions,” explains Lauren Porter, Director of Retail Growth & Innovation at HowGood. “Our role is to help companies build and execute sustainability strategies grounded in high-resolution data—starting with the most granular, product-level insights available.”
The platform’s approach differs significantly from traditional sustainability databases by providing immediate access to emission factors for over 90,000 ingredients, processes, and sourcing locations. “This granularity is essential: decarbonization simply isn’t possible without it,” Porter notes.
HowGood: Precision data drives measurable outcomes
HowGood’s approach distinguishes itself from traditional sustainability databases through several key characteristics. Rather than relying on generic averages, the platform provides ingredient-, region-, and practice-specific emissions data that offers greater precision for decision-making.
Additionally, the company has developed a single integrated platform that supports multiple sustainability functions, including footprinting, decarbonization initiatives, supplier engagement, and verified sustainability claims. This is scalable across organizations of varying sizes, effectively serving companies whether they operate with a full ESG team or depend on a single sustainability professional.
The time and cost savings of this, according to Porter, are substantial. “Our platform enables companies to quickly identify environmental impact hot spots with a high degree of confidence, eliminating the need for manual research, generalized category-level data, or reliance on public emissions databases,” she explains. “Without an automated platform at our scale, companies generally turn to commissioning LCAs for high quality emissions data, costing upwards of $50,000 per product. HowGood’s scaled approach saves teams significant time and resources; as the head of sustainability at Red Gold put it, using HowGood meant she finally “got her weekends back.”
Beyond operational efficiencies, the platform enables companies to drive measurable environmental impact. “Ingredion, for example, used our platform to quantify that their Canadian-sourced pea protein offers a 77% lower carbon footprint than the category average—and brought that data into their B2B storytelling and marketing materials,” she explains. “For our partners, success often begins with better data—and leads to measurable savings, actionable insights, and stronger sustainability narratives.”
Bridging the resource gap between large and small companies
The sustainability challenges facing food companies vary significantly based on organizational size and resources, with resource limitations creating unique barriers for smaller companies. “Small-to-medium food companies often have lean sustainability teams—if any—and are frequently stuck in reactive mode, spending most of their time responding to data requests from downstream customers or trying to stay compliant with evolving regulations. This leaves little room for proactive work like decarbonization planning or ingredient innovation,” Porter explains.
HowGood bridges that gap by automating sustainability data delivery and simplifying compliance. With this approach, companies have access to additional time and resources, enabling them to take more proactive action on sustainability initiatives.
Larger corporations face different challenges around data integration and scale. “Larger corporations, on the other hand, face a different challenge: managing sustainability data across numerous business units, product lines, and regions. For these companies, it’s not just about accessing accurate data—it’s about integrating it seamlessly into existing enterprise systems,” Porter notes.
“That’s why HowGood’s platform is built to work with MDM solutions like Stibo Systems and Informatic, and carbon accounting tools like Watershed and Salesforce. Our ingredient-level sustainability data is highly specialized, but we focus on making it operational within a company’s broader data ecosystem—enabling large organizations to scale sustainability insights and actions across their entire business,” she explains.
Enhancing supplier collaboration and achieving ROI through data precision
Of course, a large part of improving sustainability levels includes active communication and collaboration with one’s suppliers. HowGood enables this through its SupplierConnect feature. “It simplifies the process of collecting key sustainability data—such as sourcing locations, farming practices, and certifications—through a streamlined and guided workflow,” Porter clarifies.
The approach creates mutual benefits. “This not only helps brands fill critical data gaps for Scope 3 reporting in a way that doesn’t take time away from their own crucial operations, but also supports suppliers in understanding and improving their own sustainability performance,” she says.
This, says Porter, is crucial to achieve measurable ROI from sourcing decisions — particularly when targeting Scope 3 emissions reductions.”Emission factors can vary dramatically based on sourcing region and agricultural practices. For example, the carbon footprint of the same crop, like wheat or soy, can be 2–3 times higher depending on whether it’s conventionally farmed in one region or regeneratively grown in another,” Porter notes.
The platform’s FieldScope feature captures this nuance through detailed data collection. “[It] enables companies to capture this level of nuance by incorporating supplier-specific and practice-level data, including inputs like tillage methods, fertilizer use, cover cropping, and irrigation,” Porter explains. “This precision allows companies not only to prove the emissions impact of sourcing decisions, but also to clearly communicate those differences internally—building cross-functional buy-in and justifying sustainability investments.”
Ingredient substitutions and broader sustainability strategies
A large part of emissions reduction, particularly for food companies, lies in the use of ingredients. Research has clearly shown the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, with plant-based ingredients proving to be the more sustainable option. This, in turn, has resulted in a significant global shift towards plant-based food products — a momentum that shows no signs of slowing down.
HowGood is contributing to this shift, as well. “Several of our clients have used HowGood’s platform to evaluate opportunities for reducing emissions by shifting from animal to plant-based ingredients. One standout example is Kerry’s ‘Smug’ product line, a hybrid dairy/oat line that blends traditional animal proteins with plant-based alternatives,” Porter explains.
With the platform, Kerry managed to create a product with significantly lower carbon and water footprints. “The final product went to market with comparative carbon footprint claims verified through our platform—demonstrating that thoughtful formulation can drive measurable environmental improvements without compromising on quality,” she continues.
Outside of helping companies transition to plant-based products, HowGood assists with improvements in on-farm agricultural practices, alternative ingredient swaps beyond plant-based, sourcing location changes, packaging updates, and manufacturing efficiencies. “We focus on providing tailored solutions to help them meet their sustainability goals,” Porter clarifies.
Supporting regenerative agriculture adoption
Another shift taking the food industry by storm is that of regenerative agriculture — which HowGood similarly taps into. “Regenerative agriculture has seen a major uptick in recent years as food companies seek to reduce emissions, build supply chain resilience, and meet evolving consumer expectations. But because regenerative practices are outcomes-based, their success depends on robust, on-farm data collection,” Porter explains.
“Ingredient-level sustainability data plays a critical role here by connecting field-level outcomes to product-level decisions and corporate sustainability goals,” she continues.
The platform achieves this through strategic integrations with farm-level data collection tools. “Through integrations with tools like Regrow and the Cool Farm Alliance, HowGood enables companies to bring farm-level data—such as soil carbon improvements, reduced nitrogen use, and cover cropping—into their broader sustainability reporting,” Porter notes.
“This ensures that the impact of regenerative agriculture pilots doesn’t remain siloed at the farm level, but instead flows into portfolio-wide strategies and Scope 3 accounting,” she concludes.
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