Festive lunch break; Christmas sandwiches and their carbon footprint

The environmental cost of popular retailer sandwiches

• Average Co2 emissions of a retailer sandwich are 2,000g.
• Sandwich carbon footprints are equivalent to driving 5 miles in a petrol engine car.
• Retailer meal deals cost an average of £3.50.
• Festive sandwiches have around 1,000g of Co2 emissions.

In a world where being carbon neutral is becoming more of a priority to both businesses and consumers, people are making a conscious effort to be more environmentally friendly. However, one area that tends to be overlooked is the common lunchtime favourite – the sandwich.

For many hungry office workers, using their lunch hour to quickly purchase a sandwich from a nearby shop is a common part of their day. However, according to NerdWallet‘s research into sandwiches from major grocery retailers Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Aldi, and Waitrose, not all sandwiches are created equally, and some may have a surprisingly big carbon footprint for their relatively small size. 

NerdWallet looked into the total weight, carbon emissions, and change in meal deal prices of both sandwiches and wraps from the aforementioned retailer giants to determine which lunchtime favourites have the worst carbon footprint, and advise office workers on how to save money on their lunchtime habits.

The five retailer sandwiches with the biggest carbon footprint were:

Sandwich	Supermarket / Retailer	Total Sandwich Weight (g)	Total Sandwich Emissions (excl packing and retail)
Specially Selected Bloomer Sandwiches Pastrami & Emmental	Aldi	244g	2,742g (Co2)
Taste the Difference New Yorker Sandwich	Sainsbury’s	254g	2,475g (Co2)
Eat & Go Triple Pack Classic Sandwich Selection	Aldi	519g	2,370g (Co2)
Beef and Horseradish Mayonnaise Sandwich	Sainsbury’s	184g	2,362g (Co2)
Taste the Difference Steak and Caramelised Onion Sandwich	Sainsbury’s	211g	2,310g (Co2)

The results were fairly surprising, with all of the sandwiches in this ranking having over 2,000 grams of Co2 emissions – that’s a big footprint for a small sandwich, roughly equating to driving 5 miles in a standard petrol car.

NerdWallet then used the same method to calculate the carbon footprints of festive sandwich releases from the same retailers.

The five festive sandwiches with the biggest carbon footprint were:

Festive Sandwich	Supermarket / Retailer	Total Sandwich Weight (g)	Total Sandwich Emissions (excl packing and retail)
Heat & Go Pigs Under Cheesy Blankets Sub Roll	Aldi	233g	1,461g (Co2)
Festive Feast Sandwich	ASDA	246g	1,243g (Co2)
Taste the Difference Ultimate Christmas Dinner Feast	Sainsbury’s	246g	1,123g (Co2)
Christmas Turkey, Stuffing & Bacon Sandwich	Waitrose	210g	1,021g (Co2)
Specially Selected Butter Basted Turkey With Pigs Under Blanket Sandwich On Malted Bloomer Bread	Aldi	273g	1,002g (Co2)

Surprisingly, even the biggest carbon footprints on these seasonal sandwiches were still smaller than the regular sandwiches with the biggest footprints – averaging at around half the carbon emissions compared to the regular sandwiches in the same category.

Inflation has caused prices to increase on many products and services across the country. NerdWallet wanted to find out how inflation has affected the price of retailer meal deals. They analysed meal deal prices from Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and ASDA for both 2021 and 2022 – to determine which meal deals have seen the biggest price increase. 

Supermarket / Retailer	Meal Deal Structure	Price in 2021	Price in 2022	Price increase between 2021 and 2022 (%)
Tesco	Sandwich, drink & snack	£3.00	£3.90	30%
Morrisons	Sandwich, drink & snack	£3.00	£3.50	16%
Sainsbury’s	Sandwich, drink & snack	£3.50	£3.50	0%
ASDA	Any three snacks, cheapest free	£2-5	£2-5	0%

Typically offering a sandwich, drink and snack – a meal deal is a staple lunchtime purchase for many office workers. Hungry workers heading out for lunch may often be drawn to the savings a meal deal can offer them, however, it seems that many aren’t as affordable as they once were.

NerdWallet’s personal finance expert, Brean Horne, suggests the following measures to conserve both money and carbon emissions:

“Preparing your own lunch at home each could help save you money, particularly if you work in the office more than one day per week. By purchasing your own sandwich ingredients, snacks, and drinks, you can cut down on the need to seek out meal deals. With the average meal deal priced at around £3.50, five day’s worth of lunches could end up costing you just under £17.50 – or £910 a year.

“Reducing your pre-packaged sandwich consumption can help to not only save you a significant amount of money, but also cut down your personal environmental impact. When we consider the carbon footprint of a single sandwich at around 2,742g of Co2, purchasing one of these each day during a 5-day week could produce 13,710g of Co2 emissions.

“Researching which retailers are located within walking distance from your workplace can help you find the meal deals offering the best value. It’s also worth noting that, in some cases, it may actually be better value for money to buy the same items individually at different stores than bundled together in a meal deal.”