Food SMEs Offer
Carbon Literacy Offer for Food SMEs
Want to empower your people to take climate action, but facing funding barriers?
Carbon Literacy® supports businesses by providing employees with the skills and motivation to build a low-carbon culture, helping them to meet sustainability goals, comply with regulations, and enhance their environmental reputation.
As a proven and reliable tool for delivering effective climate action, Carbon Literacy training supports organisations in directly addressing their carbon footprint by helping them understand climate change impacts, the role they play in climate action, and building science-based, actionable strategies.
However, ensuring that SMEs are not left behind is in itself a challenge. UK SMEs represent 61% of employment and 51% of turnover, yet are particularly challenged by the low carbon transition.
The Compass Group Foundation has provided vital funding for SMEs in the food value chain to access globally recognised Carbon Literacy training, so they can be a part of the movement towards a low-carbon economy.
This initiative targets those who may face barriers in accessing climate education by empowering them to conduct internal training sessions for their staff in a cascade model, which minimises cost whilst maximising impact.
By fostering a Carbon Literate workforce, SMEs can better understand how to align with the procurement policies of their customers. Future-proofing your organisation in this way also reaps the numerous benefits associated with sustainability and environmental awareness. An educated workforce is better prepared to identify and mitigate climate-related risks, enhancing stakeholder relations whilst also cutting carbon and saving money.
Who can apply?
This initiative will be aimed at SMEs in the food value chain with an annual turnover of less than £5m, as they represent a group who have limited financial resources, technical expertise, and dedicated sustainability departments compared to larger corporations.
The offer aims to be a catalytic process where the initial learners trained will enable SMEs in the food supply chain to access the Shareable Food Course, and deliver Carbon Literacy to their entire workforce via a cascading peer-to-peer training mode.
We will prioritise SMEs who agree to pay forward the free training they have received by offering to host Carbon Literacy training to other SMEs in their value chain. In this way, we will create a ripple effect which will continue to transform the sector beyond the timeframe of the grant.
How to apply
Before applying, please first read our application guidance document to ensure you are eligible.
You can then complete the application form and we will be in contact once we have selected the organisations that have been successful.
This fully funded offer is limited, with a bounded number of SMEs that will be able to access the training. We intend to engage in training and provide SMEs with the resources to educate staff throughout 2025.
If you are not eligible for this offer but would still like to know more about how you or your organisation can get involved with The Carbon Literacy Project, please do not hesitate to contact us at food@carbonliteracy.com or info@carbonliteracy.com.
The deadline to apply is 10th March 2025.
"The Carbon Literacy Project is a fantastic initiative for any business that wants to take an informed step forward in their sustainability agenda.”
Emma Love, Product & Sustainability Director at PROPER Snacks
“The range of activities [in our Carbon Literacy course] sustained engagement throughout the day, and we were left with knowledge about the positive changes we can make, both individually and in our organisations, to tackle climate change."
Alison Gray, Fairtrade Association
“I was thoroughly impressed by the Carbon Literacy training I recently completed. A methodical, engaging overview of the climate change crisis we are all facing, the emissions fuelling it and the importance of ways we can all help to tackle it, it underscored for me the importance of our society becoming as Carbon Literate as possible. We at Wells & Co. are excited to explore how this training can benefit our wider business, and I’d encourage any organisation that takes environmental sustainability seriously to collaborate with the Carbon Literacy team.”
Ed Robinson, Sustainability Manager at Wells & Co
“Thinking about running a Carbon Literacy course? Do it! You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, and these guys run a really excellent course, a really, really great day. It's informative, it’s fun, it’s a little scary at times - I mean this is a big problem we’re facing - but you go away feeling really empowered, ready to do something about it.”
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Celebrity Chef & Environmental Campaigner
“The training will help us all understand our impacts on the environment, our individual and collective carbon footprints, and the actions we can take to reduce these at work and at home. It will help educate, inform and inspire us to make better decisions and change our behaviours – and to influence others to do the same.”
Shelly Beckett, Strategic Planning Manager at Environment Agency
Get in touch
Interested to find out more about this offer? To contact us with your questions or to book a call to chat with our team further, please email us at food@carbonliteracy.com.