CHEF

Calculator for Health, Environment and Food

Free professional tool — no sign-up needed to start
Amateur foodies also welcome — just type in a dish name and get results

Great ingredients.
Proven impact.
Premium hospitality.

The only tool that scores and labels every dish on both environmental footprint and nutritional value. Giving health-conscious guests the transparency that they expect from quality hospitality.

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2,800+

ingredients &
dishes in database

145

countries using
the tool

580k

LCA data variables
underpinning results

Spaghetti Bolognese — 545g

Environmental & Nutrition Profile

Live

Overall environmental grade

All 16 EU PEF indicators in one grade

Climate — 6.94 kg CO₂e

Greenhouse gas emissions

Land

Farmland, soil and nitrogen pollution

Water

Water use, run-off and river pollution

Energy & resources

Energy, packaging and air pollution

Nutrition per portion

932kcal

51.1gprotein

41.8gfat

12.0gsat. fat

0.81gsalt

92.1gcarbs

Try a plant-based alternative → Open calculator for this dish

The challenge

Food is your largest controllable environmental impact - and your guests want you to act.

F&B operations can generate over 50% of on-site hospitality and hotel emissions. The effects span climate, water and biodiversity, and they are measurable, actionable and communicable to your guests today.

Climate & greenhouse gases

Food systems are responsible for 26% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock supply chains dominate. Your menu is the most direct and effective way to change your impact on the climate.

26%

of global GHG emissions come from food systems

Water & land biodiversity

70% of global freshwater extraction and 78% of ocean and freshwater pollution is linked to farming. Land conversion for agriculture is the single largest driver of biodiversity loss.

70%

of freshwater extraction is from agriculture

Guest expectations & health

A PwC survey of 20,000 consumers across 31 countries found that 44% would pay a premium for more sustainable food. Nutrition transparency is now an equally powerful demand signal.

44%

of consumers will pay more for sustainable food

GHG Protocol Scope and Category Emissions breakdown of a large European 5-star hotel spa resort, showing Food and Beverage accounting for 49% of emissions.

Certified European 5-star resort — F&B accounted for 49% of total on-site emissions.

In practice, F&B consistently outweighs every other on-site emission source — more than electricity, heating and waste combined. Unlike infrastructure upgrades, menu changes can reduce your footprint this season.

Start measuring your menu

Restaurant menu showing A-E environmental performance ratings for each dish

Empower guests with simple menu ratings (see live example), backed by detailed, transparent data.

From ingredient to label

Measure, compare and label — in minutes.

Search from 2,800+ ingredients, build your dish, adjust portion size and instantly get one science-backed A–E environmental grade, with simple A–E grades for Climate, Land, Water and Energy & resources, plus the dish’s nutrition profile. See which ingredient drives each grade, and what a swap changes. Generate labels you can display on your menu with confidence.

When environmental information appears on menus, academic research and hotel groups including Hyatt and Hilton have demonstrated that guests consistently choose lower-impact options.

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Open access — no sign-up or monthly subscription required to start
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Science-based — 580,000+ LCA variables across all 16 PEF categories
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Visual recipe gallery — jump straight in with pre-built example dishes
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No recipe - no problem — just type in a dish name or upload a photo of the menu and AI automatically finds ingredients and weights
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Globally trusted — dishes assessed in 145 countries

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Chart showing the environmental impact of food on climate, land use, water use, and marine and freshwater pollution. Source: Our World in Data.

Go beyond carbon

Carbon is only part of the story.

Our most immediate environmental challenges are climate change and biodiversity loss — and they are inseparable. Focusing on carbon emissions alone misses 70% of freshwater extraction, ocean pollution, land degradation and species loss that farming drives.

To make truly sustainable choices for your business and your guests, it is essential to consider the full picture of climate, land, and water impacts together. That is what the EU’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) standard — which we use — was designed to do.

“Chefs really care about the environment because good quality dining comes from sourcing excellent ingredients. A good chef rises to the challenges and enjoys the creativity needed to deliver a truly engaging dining experience that also takes better care of nature.” Chef Monty — Sahana Restaurant and Bar

Full-spectrum measurement

All 16 Product Environmental Footprint categories — not just carbon.

The EU’s PEF standard defines 16 environmental impact categories. Every CHEF rating uses all of them, combined with the EU’s own weighting, so your results are comprehensive, credible and comparable. To keep it simple in the kitchen, they are summarised as four grades: Climate, Land, Water and Energy & resources.

Climate

Land

Water

Energy & resources

Climate change

Greenhouse gases

Land use

Farmland and soil quality

Acidification

Ammonia and acid rain

Terrestrial eutrophication

Nitrogen settling on land

Water use

Weighted for local scarcity

Freshwater eutrophication

Run-off to rivers and lakes

Marine eutrophication

Run-off to the sea

Freshwater ecotoxicity

Pesticides and chemicals

Resource use — fossils

Oil, gas and coal energy

Resource use — minerals

Metals and packaging

Particulate matter

Fine dust, e.g. from ammonia

Photochemical ozone

Smog

Ozone depletion

The ozone layer

Ionising radiation

Mostly from electricity

Human toxicity — cancer

Toxic emissions

Human toxicity — non-cancer

Toxic emissions

Healthy planet, healthy guest

57 nutritional indicators — not just calories.

The modern diner isn’t just looking for a low-carbon meal. They want to know what’s in their food. Our Professional tier unlocks the most comprehensive nutritional database available for F&B operations, with indicative UK, EU and US nutrition labels.

Balance your menu’s environmental grade with its health profile. Meet corporate wellness goals, respond to dietary preferences and build genuine guest trust.

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Energy, carbohydrates & sugars

10 indicators

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Fatty acids & cholesterol

12 indicators

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Minerals & salts

16 indicators

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Vitamins

19 indicators

Roasted Peking Duck — per serving

Full nutrition breakdown (57 indicators in Pro)

Energy

573 kcal

Protein

32.0 g

Carbohydrates

16.1 g

Of which sugars

10.9 g

Fat

46.0 g

Saturated fat

14.2 g

Fibre

1.1 g

Salt

2.22 g

Environmental impact (per serving)

ClimateC 1.52 kg CO₂e

LandC

WaterC

Energy & resourcesB

Full 57-indicator breakdown available in Professional →

Trusted worldwide

Used by hospitality professionals in 145 countries.

From five-star hotel groups to independent restaurants, TLC Analytics is the tool the industry relies on for credible sustainability data.

★★★★★

“Chefs really care about the environment because good quality dining comes from sourcing excellent ingredients with great texture and taste. A good chef rises to the challenges and enjoys the creativity needed to deliver a truly engaging dining experience that takes better care of nature.”

Chef Monty

Sahana Restaurant and Bar

★★★★★

“Until we got in Total Life Cycle we did not comprehend that the largest reduction in on-site emissions in the shortest time could be through adjusting our menus. F&B was over 50% of our hotel spa’s footprint — their tool made the process easy and manageable.”

Managing Director

European 5-star Resort

★★★★★

“When environmental information appears on menus, guests consistently choose lower-impact options. The labelling has become a genuine point of difference for us — guests notice and appreciate the transparency.”

Sustainability Manager MENA

Grand Hyatt

Research & evidence

“When environmental information on menus is provided, peer-reviewed academic research and hotel groups such as Hyatt and Hilton have demonstrated that guests choose less nature-harming options.”

“A PwC consumer survey across 31 countries (20,000 respondents) reports that 44% of consumers would pay a price premium for more sustainable foods.”

145

countries where dishes
have been assessed

2,800+

ingredients and dishes
in the database

£0

to use the core calculator —
no sign-up required

Three ways to use TLC

Start free. Go deeper when you’re ready.

The core calculator is always open access. Unlock the full picture with a Pro report, or let our analysts certify your whole establishment.

Free forever

Open Calculator LITE

£0

No time limit. Free account to download labels.

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A–E environmental grade for any dish, built from all 16 EU PEF indicators, with Climate, Land, Water and Energy & resources grades, plus traffic-light colours showing each ingredient’s impact per kg

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2,800+ ingredient database with full LCA data

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6 core UK/EU nutrition values — label-ready

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A–E environment dish labels you can display on your menu (free account)

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Visual recipe gallery for instant comparisons

Launch the calculator →

Put the data in diners’ hands.

ChuGuru is our free consumer app that lets anyone check the environmental and nutritional impact of the food they order — before they order it.

When diners are better informed, menus start changing. The industry moves from the table up.

ChuGuru — free on Android & iOS

In support and alignment with

We follow the GHG Protocol Standards for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions measurement.

TLC is a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on climate action in tourism.

Environmental impacts modelled in alignment with UNEP research.

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

TLC is a signatory of the UNFCCC Climate Change Pledge.

Great ingredients.
Proven impact.
Premium hospitality.