Innovation + Climate Conscious Choices = A Match Made in Heaven

ABOUT TOMORROW FARMS

Tomorrow Farms is a true innovator in the food industry, with a mission to reinvent our favorite foods so they’re better for people, kinder to animals, and easier on the planet. Founded in October 2021, Tomorrow Farms recreates pantry and refrigerator staples traditionally produced with a large environmental footprint (e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, water use, land use) by harnessing the power of better-for-you, sustainable ingredients.

Tomorrow Farms leads the full commercialization process: from ideation, product development, and brand building, through manufacturing, fulfillment and logistics, sales, and marketing. The company has cracked the formula, showing the industry how to blend climate-conscious choices with innovation to address our food system challenges.

Their innovation lies in sourcing familiar ingredients made in new ways -- which is exactly what their first brand to reach the market, Bored Cow, has done so well. Bored Cow is made with dairy-identical milk protein from fermentation instead of cows. In turn, they have successfully crafted an “animal-free dairy milk.” Yes, that’s right, a milk product – that can compete head to head with real dairy on flavor, texture, and nutrition – with a much lower impact on our earth.

‍THE CHALLENGE

Tomorrow Farms knew they had created an industry-changing product, but wanted to be able to quantify the environmental impact to consumers and buyers alike, which is where Planet FWD came in. Due to its unique processing, Tomorrow Farms needed a provider who could conduct bespoke life cycle assessments (LCAs) that would reflect its unique supply chain and attributes. We worked with Tomorrow Farms to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment of their first product, Bored Cow Original, against other dairy industry benchmarks, as well as conducting LCAs across their full product portfolio. 

<span class="small-blockquote">"We are proud to lead the charge in CPG for having a better understanding of the impact of our favorite foods. If we’re going to talk the talk, we better have the data to back up the walk as well!"</span>

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<strong>Ben Berman</strong>
CEO and Co-Founder, Tomorrow Farms
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‍THE SOLUTION

Planet FWD partnered with Tomorrow Farms to quantify and report the impact of their innovation through an LCA Benchmark Analysis. The analysis included GHG Emissions, Land, Water and Energy usage and focused on other leading dairy and non-dairy benchmarks: 2% Conventional Dairy, 2% Organic Dairy and Almond Milk. Specific pasteurization methods - namely standard milk pasteurization vs UHT - were also included to shine alight on the difference in energy usage across milk types. This helped to paint a realistic picture of what dairy looks like today while underlining why and how Bored Cow is helping us create a new path forward for dairy’s impact.

Allocation methodology for co-products was also a prominent detail in the study and was of importance to the Tomorrow Farms team. Co-products, where waste from producing one thing can then be used towards producing another product, can be quite common in CPG goods and creates a win-win scenario. Bored Cow’s fermented whey protein produces a co-product, and in order to incorporate this into the LCA, there are a few different methodologies that can be used. 

Understanding this core component has allowed Tomorrow Farms to think about its future pipeline of products in terms of core ingredients and how to address and calculate the impact of co-products conservatively.

<span class="small-blockquote">“We looked at a wide array of LCA providers in making our decision. Planet FWD offers the ideal mix of experience & innovation to meet our goal of producing ISO-aligned, 3rd party certified LCAs. They differentiated themselves with a focus on food and beverage, ability to make “apples to apples” comparisons, and striking the right balance between speed to results and detailed analysis and review by experts.”</span>

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<strong>Sara Scheffler</strong>
Senior Manager of Strategy and Operations, Tomorrow Farms
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RESULTS & BENEFITS

With the backing of the completed LCA Benchmark Analysis, Tomorrow Farms was ready to launch Bored Cow into retail stores around the country with not only a novel and delicious offering, but the stats to back their environmental impact. From “farm to factory,” Bored Cow requires up to 96% less land, uses up to 67% less water, and emits up to 44% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional and organic dairy milk. 

Tomorrow Farms has incorporated their findings into events and on their website, in a digestible format to not only transparently showcase their impact, but also to educate consumers on what an LCA is and how it’s calculated. Tomorrow Farms has continued to conduct LCAs across their full portfolio of Bored Cow goods to again highlight the nuances between flavors, from Original to Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry.

<span class="small-blockquote">“As customers and regulators increasingly demand the stats to back up qualitative claims, producing LCAs has become a core pillar of our product development process.”</span>

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<strong>Claire Markoff</strong>
Associate Director of Operations, Tomorrow Farms
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These results also contributed to Tomorrow Farms’ certification as a B Corp in February 2024. Having the calculations for how much land, water, and GHG emissions Bored Cow can conserve compared to traditional dairy was a critical component in environmental reporting.

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Since their retail launch in April 2023, Bored Cow has entered more than 3,000 stores across the country, such as Sprouts Farmers Market, Safeway, Albertsons, and Fresh Thyme to name a few. 

<span class="small-blockquote">“The transparency LCAs bring validates our dedication to reducing our environmental impact and by translating it into clear, digestible visuals, we can empower individuals and families across the country to make more sustainable choices with confidence.”</span>

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<strong>Jennifer Mezzapelle</strong>
Head of Marketing, Tomorrow Farms
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As the Tomorrow Farms team continues to create new products in their pipeline, they see LCA insights as an important input for the R&D process. By reviewing ingredients and supplier/sourcing options to understand climate impact with Planet FWD’s new platform, they can assess each of their sourcing options and ultimately design a low-impact offering from the start, so the product is launched with the most climate-efficient supply chain possible.

We can’t wait to continue our work with the Tomorrow Farms team as they continue to expand their product offering and inspire other brands to incorporate this work upfront to ensure climate-conscious choices are a standard rather than an afterthought.

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