Food fit for the future
Food is a basic necessity. It's also a livelihood, a cultural expression, and one of the biggest drivers of environmental impact on the planet.
Our mission is to improve the health of people and the planet through complete and convenient nutrition.
At Huel, that means developing products with nutrition and environmental impact built in, not bolted on.
Low-Carbon Food
The food system is responsible for over a quarter of all global greenhouse gas emissions (Crippa, M., Solazzo, E., Guizzardi, D. et al., 2021). Animal-based foods account for more than half of those, while delivering just 18% of global calorie intake (Poore & Nemecek, 2018). Shifting toward more plant-rich diets is one of the most widely recognized ways to reduce them (Gibbs & Cappuccio, 2022).
Every Huel product is plant-based. Our core ingredients, peas, oats, and flax, are generally associated with a lower environmental impact than animal-derived alternatives (Poore & Nemecek, 2018).
Research by WWF (One Planet Plate, 2021) suggests that keeping food-related emissions in line with a 1.5°C pathway means around 0.5 kg CO₂e for lunch and dinner, and 0.4 kg CO₂e for breakfast.
We use those figures as the standard all Huel meals are developed to meet, and track our performance against them.
Sustainable ingredients
Carbon is only part of the picture. Ingredients represent the largest share of our total carbon footprint, and environmental impact extends beyond emissions to land use, water, and biodiversity.
We're investing in regenerative agriculture through both sourcing decisions and field-scale trials in the UK and Canada. The trials focus on soil health, biodiversity, and reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers. They're helping us understand what works at scale and how to apply those practices across more of our ingredient sourcing over time.
In the UK, we source oats from Gentle Farm, where low-till farming and soil-focused management practices have been in place for over a decade. We're using those learnings to inform our approach to other key ingredients.
Packaging Responsibly
Our packaging has to balance several things at once: protecting the product, maintaining quality, extending shelf life, and keeping material use and carbon impact as low as possible, sometimes in tension with one another.
Our bottles are made from 51% recycled plastic and are recyclable. Our cans use 62% recycled aluminum and are widely recyclable where facilities exist.
Our pouches are lightweight, multi-serve, and carry a 12-month shelf life from production. They're not currently recyclable. We know that's a gap, and we're working on it, testing solutions that improve recyclability without trading off shelf life or food waste reduction.
Suppliers With Shared Values
We aim to work with suppliers who meet our ethical standards. We assess risk across our value chain and evaluate supplier performance using recognized tools, including the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex).
All suppliers must hold an independently verified ethical audit, SMETA or equivalent, and comply with the Huel Supplier Code of Conduct. Where suppliers operate in higher-risk regions or are linked to key human rights concerns, we increase engagement and work with them directly on improvements. Our focus areas include fair wages, child labor, forced labor, and safe working conditions. We monitor performance through ongoing audits and reviews.
For cocoa, we go further. We source through Tony’s Open Chain, a long-term partnership built around improving farmer incomes, traceability, and working conditions across cocoa supply chains.
Net Zero
Net Zero means achieving a balance between the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere and those removed. Reaching that balance globally by 2050 would halt the warming caused by human activity and help avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.
We measure our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions annually, at company and product level, using the Altruistiq carbon accounting platform. Since FY22, our emissions have grown more slowly than our revenue, reducing our carbon intensity from 0.33 to 0.30 kg CO₂e per £ revenue.
We're committed to reducing our carbon intensity as the business grows, and to keeping all Huel products below 1.5°C climate-aligned emission thresholds.
Our data is independently assured by Bureau Veritas under ISO 14064-3:2019.
“No” to Food Waste
If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, behind only China and the United States (Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources, FAO, 2013).
Our products are built to minimize food waste. Shelf lives are long: Huel Powder lasts 12 months from production unopened, and up to 6 months once opened and stored correctly. Flexible serving sizes mean customers prepare only what they need.
Some of our ingredients are by-products of other food processes. Pea protein, for example, is a co-product of processes such as vermicelli noodle production, making use of resources that might otherwise go to waste.
We also donate products to food banks, reducing waste and keeping food out of landfills.
Giving Back
In 2020, we launched our Community Program, committing to allocate 1% of our annual profits to charities and organizations aligned with our mission. We also provide all employees with one paid day each year for volunteering.
We have a dedicated charity partner in each location where our teams are based: The Felix Project in London, City Harvest in New York, Lindengate in Buckinghamshire, MK Food Bank in Milton Keynes, and Let's Feed Brum in Birmingham.
We also support GroceryAid, which helps people working in the grocery industry who have fallen on hard times, and sponsor Tring Rugby Club, supporting the local community around our HQ.
Further afield, we provide ongoing financial support to the Elba Hope Foundation’s Project Trust in Sierra Leone, helping fund programs that aim to improve cocoa farmers’ livelihoods while supporting forest protection and regeneration.