How Compass Group is Scaling Supplier Engagement with Planet FWD

About Compass Group

Compass Group is the world's largest contract foodservice company, serving millions of meals daily across sectors from corporate dining to education and healthcare. With such massive scale comes significant responsibility - and opportunity - to drive positive environmental impact through their supply chain choices.

The Challenge

As a foodservice provider, Compass Group's emissions are heavily concentrated in their Scope 3 supply chain - specifically in the food products they purchase. While the company had historically tracked emissions using spend-based methods, they recognized the need for a more sophisticated approach to drive real reductions.

The company faced several key challenges:

• Limited visibility into actual supplier practices and emissions
• Complex supply chain with thousands of suppliers and products made it difficult to identify and prioritize impact areas
• Need to protect suppliers' confidential information while still collecting detailed emissions data
• Manual data collection processes that didn't scale
• Difficulty capturing and appropriately recognizing suppliers' existing sustainability initiatives

The company's sustainability team knew that supplier engagement would be critical to achieving their climate goals, but needed a scalable approach that would work for both Compass and their suppliers.

The Solution

Planet FWD's partnership with Compass Group demonstrates how supplier engagement can evolve from a pilot to a scalable program. The journey began with a focused pilot engaging Compass's Future Forward suppliers - industry leaders already taking climate action. This proof-of-concept helped validate that collecting primary supplier data could reveal and quantify emissions reduction activities already happening in the supply chain.

Building on these learnings, Planet FWD and Compass Group are now implementing a more comprehensive program powered by Planet FWD's supplier engagement platform. The streamlined approach delivers value for both Compass and their suppliers. For suppliers, the program offers:

• An opportunity to showcase their sustainability initiatives and get credit for emissions reductions
• A cost-effective way to create standards-aligned LCA models they can use with other customers
• A streamlined process that eliminates redundant data requests
• Protection of confidential information through Planet FWD's data firewall

For Compass Group, the program provides:

• Strategic supplier prioritization targeting top suppliers representing approximately 50% of emissions
• Direct supplier access to Planet FWD's platform for updating lifecycle assessment (LCA) data
• Clear visibility into supplier sustainability practices and reduction opportunities

<span class="small-blockquote">"Planet FWD's platform enables a truly scalable approach to supplier engagement. By giving suppliers direct access to edit LCA models, we eliminate the need for lengthy questionnaires and ensure every piece of data they share directly impacts their emissions calculations."</span>

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<strong>Amy Keister</strong>
Global Director of Sustainability, Compass Group
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Results & Benefits

The initial pilot program demonstrated significant potential for emissions reductions through supplier engagement:

• Up to 43% emissions reduction identified for individual product categories where suppliers had implemented sustainable practices
• 11% average reduction across all assessed products compared to industry average models
• 0.7% reduction in overall food procurement emissions - a meaningful impact given the scale of Compass's operations

Key reduction drivers included:

• Renewable energy adoption in manufacturing
• Improved waste management practices
• Recycled content in packaging
• More efficient agricultural practices

Beyond the immediate emissions reductions identified, the program established the foundation for ongoing supplier engagement and continuous improvement. The platform enables:

• Real-time updates as suppliers implement new sustainability initiatives
• Clear visibility into reduction opportunities for each supplier
• Data-driven supplier selection and procurement decisions
• Scalable engagement process that can expand to additional suppliers

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Building on this success, Compass Group is now expanding the program to engage additional suppliers through Planet FWD's platform. The structured cohort approach targeting their highest-impact suppliers will help Compass make measurable progress toward their climate goals while establishing best practices for supplier engagement across the food service industry.

<span class="small-blockquote">"This program gives us the tools we need to make informed procurement decisions based on carbon impact. By collecting primary data from our suppliers, we can both recognize their existing sustainability initiatives and identify opportunities for continued improvement."</span>

<span class="blockquote-wrap">
<strong>Amy Keister</strong>
Global Director of Sustainability, Compass Group
</span>