sweetgreen Releases 2022 Impact Report Detailing Progress Toward Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Goals

April 18, 2023 at 06:00 AM EDT

Since announcing its carbon neutrality pledge, the restaurant brand has reduced carbon emissions intensity by 12% from their 2019 baseline.
As part of their commitment to sustainable sourcing, sweetgreen purchased over 5 million pounds of organic greens in 2022, with 65% of produce suppliers utilizing organic farming practices.
To mitigate environmental impacts, 79% of their restaurant waste was composted or recycled.

Today, sweetgreen (NYSE: SG), the mission-driven restaurant brand serving healthy food at scale, released their first 2022 Impact Report, detailing the company’s ongoing initiatives to build a sustainable food system and responsible business. The report highlights sweetgreen’s Fiscal Year 2022 progress towards their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, including their commitments to becoming carbon neutral by 2027 and broadening workforce representation across all levels by the end of 2025.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230418005634/en/

Since announcing its carbon neutrality pledge, sweetgreen has reduced carbon emissions intensity by 12% from their 2019 baseline. (Graphic: Business Wire)

“Since day one, we have recognized the connection between our mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food, and creating sustainable solutions to deliver better products for our customers that are responsibly made,” said Jonathan Neman, Co-founder and CEO. “This first Impact Report is the culmination of our teams’ efforts, and I’m proud of the progress we have made together in creating a positive impact in the lives of our customers and communities.”

Milestones in the report include:

Sustainable & Ethical Sourcing:

Supporting sustainable growers: In 2022, sweetgreen purchased over 5 million pounds of organic greens, with 65% of their produce suppliers using organic, integrated pest management (IPM), or transitional growing practices.
Promoting animal welfare: 95% of primary chicken sources are Global Animal Partnership (GAP) Step 2 certified and have met 5 out of 6 elements of the Better Chicken Commitment.

Menu Design & Innovation:

Measuring carbon emissions: Together with their partner, Watershed, sweetgreen calculated the emissions of their menu items and published the emissions data and methodology on their website.
Introducing carbon-friendly items: The Hummus Crunch Salad at 0.3 kg CO2e is their lowest carbon meal to date.

Progress towards Carbon Neutral:

Reducing emissions intensity: Since announcing their commitment to becoming carbon neutral in February 2021, sweetgreen has decreased emissions intensity by 12% from their 2019 baseline while maintaining company growth.
Investing in clean energy: 100% of operations are powered by clean electricity purchased from solar farms in North Carolina certified by Watershed, reducing their Scope 2 emissions to zero.
Mitigating environmental impacts: 79% of waste was composted or recycled based on restaurants where their partner, Rubicon, manages landfill, compost, and recycling streams.

People & Community:

Setting workforce goals: Analyzed and benchmarked workforce representation with Syndio, a workplace equity platform, and set goals to achieve balanced representation across levels within three years.
Giving back to communities: Donated over 120,000 fresh meals to local communities during new restaurant openings, with restaurant teams contributing over 350 hours of community service.

Sweetgreen’s 2022 Impact Report was prepared following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards Core option and relevant Sustainability Accountability Standards Board (SASB) standards for the restaurant industry. To view the 2022 Impact Report and learn more about ESG at sweetgreen, visit investor.sweetgreen.com.

About sweetgreen: Sweetgreen (NYSE: SG) passionately believes that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day, across its 195+ restaurants, their team members create plant-forward, seasonal, and earth-friendly meals from fresh ingredients and produce that prioritizes organic, regenerative, and local sourcing. Sweetgreen strongly believes in harnessing the power of technology to enhance the customer experience, and leverages their app to create an omnichannel experience to meet their customers where they are. Sweetgreen’s strong food ethos and investment in local communities have enabled them to grow into a national brand with a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. To learn more about sweetgreen and its menu, visit www.sweetgreen.com. Follow sweetgreen on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @sweetgreen.