BOULDER, COLO. — Quinn Snacks, LLC has earned the Climate Friendly attribute from HowGood, an assessment that measures greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for food products from their agricultural production to ingredient processing stages and identifies those with significantly lower emissions. Only the top 30% of products assessed by HowGood are granted the Climate Friendly designation.
Quinn said it plans to roll out its first on-pack Climate Friendly label on its snack products in 2023.
“Transparency is a huge priority for us at Quinn Snacks,” said Kristy Lewis, founder of the company. “When you know where your food comes from and how it’s grown, you make food differently, you make it better.
“Regenerative agriculture can drastically reduce emissions and make farms more resilient to the effects of climate change. We’re excited to have HowGood’s Climate Friendly label to communicate our commitment to the environment and responsible sourcing.”
As part of Quinn’s commitment to sustainability, the company said it seeks ingredients that support soil health and reduce carbon emissions. Then it shares that information with consumers through its ingredient transparency policy – an online database of its growers and suppliers. “Farm to bag transparency,” is the policy’s tagline.
HowGood is an independent company with a large ingredient sustainability database. Its methodology for calculating GHG emissions was developed in accordance with the GHG Protocol. Data collection sources include the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2013 global warming potential estimates, where available, and crop-specific lifecycle assessments. Once the data is collected and analyzed, HowGood maps each ingredient to its source crop, animal or mineral. The company then maps each source crop to its corresponding geographic location to account for specific on-the-ground practices, impacts, and risks in each locale. Through this process, HowGood said it has developed industry-average impact profiles for CO2e across nearly every ingredient in the food system.
“The Climate Friendly attribute provides consumers with a clear indicator of how sustainable a product is with respect to carbon emissions,” said Christina Lampert, director of growth and innovation at HowGood. “It’s easy-to-understand and guides consumers toward more sustainable purchases. Labels like Quinn’s will empower shoppers to take a critical step in reducing their carbon footprint.”
Boulder-based Quinn is known for the microwave popcorn packaged in a patented Pure Pop Bag made of compostable paper with no chemical or plastic coatings. The company also produced a whole grain, gluten-free pretzel and gluten-free filled pretzel nuggets.
Quinn snack products featuring the Climate Friendly attribute will be reassessed annually to ensure the company and its products continue to meet the current industry benchmarks.