Climate labels and the restaurant industry: a qualitative study

As the food industry accounts for more than one-third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, it is one of the largest contributors to climate change. Strategies for reducing CO2e (equivalent) emissions must be implemented to regulate the impact the food systems have on the climate. Environmental communication using climate labels and sharing information on carbon footprints can help reduce GHGs emissions from restaurant purchases on a systemic scale. The aim is to gain insights and study how a carbon label influences the concept of a climate-friendly restaurant and its capacity to bridge the gap between knowledge, awareness, and action. What are the motivations for restaurant employees to adopt climate-friendly behavior? How does the label’s use influence restaurants’ decision to track their carbon footprint over time, communicate the carbon footprint of dishes, and adapt menus to be more climate-friendly? The data were collected with semi-structured interviews with video communication with three restaurant chains, all using labels. The data collected via the interviews were examined using an inductive thematic analysis to identify key themes. The transcending transmission approach to communication was used to gain insights into instrumental and constitutive communication dynamics. As the theoretical framework, ‘symbolic interactionism’ helps untangle constitutive aspects of environmental communication surrounding climate labels to analyze the process of conceptualization through usage, co-creation, and interpretation. The analysis brought forward three main themes: the interactions between the scientific data accessible in the tool and the restaurants. Second, the diverse implications of sustainability marketing for motivating climate actions and what they look like. And finally, climate actions and how they are being apprehended and implemented by the restaurants. The promise of climate labels was discussed by elaborating on socio-cultural dynamics, sustainability marketing, and activism forces and impulses influencing the motivations for restaurants. We then discussed the capacity to transcend information into action through collaboration and inclusiveness to avoid greenwashing. Restaurants have a commercial interest in implementing climate labels in their business and an intrinsic desire to be a company that takes action for the planet because of the restaurants ‘employees’ convictions. However, restaurants find themselves in a tricky situation where they can be criticized if they take ‘wrong’ actions that can be considered greenwashing and criticized if they do nothing. The software enables restaurants to legitimize their actions and communicate them, making them resilient and evolving.