A number of retailers and food and drink brands have joined front-of-pack eco-score scheme Foundation Earth ahead of a pilot for its labelling trial starting this month.

The non-profit organisation was launched in June and has been supported by the industry with major companies joining its industry advisory group. The group will help Foundation Earth optimise its nascent traffic light environmental scoring system, which aims to roll out across Europe after the September trial.

The labelling trial will be noticeable on products sold by M&S, Costa Coffee, Meatless Farm, Greencore, Abel & Cole, Mash Direct and Finnebrogue Artisan.

“Collaboration is fundamental if we are to tackle the global climate crisis and Foundation Earth has demonstrated that major industry players are committed to real change in order to provide society with a simple, trusted system for everyday food choices,” said Cliona Howie, Foundation Earth Executive Director.

“This bold commitment [is] to a true farm-to-fork initiative that can drive change at both production and consumption ends in the value chain, thus simultaneously stimulating what we call systemic transformation and pioneering a more circular society. Consumers will finally be able to quickly and simply understand the impact linked to their food choices.”

Foundation Earth was the brainchild of the late Finnebrogue Artisan founder Denis Lynn. The labelling scheme is set to use methodolgy devised by food advisory company Mondra – which draws on data from a paper published by researchers at Oxford University and Swiss research institute Agroscope in 2018 – and the EU-funded food innovation initiative EIT Food.

To find out more about Foundation Earth and the companies supporting the scheme, click here.