Areas calculates its 2025 Organizational Carbon Footprint

An organisation’s carbon footprint is the total amount of direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by its activities. GHGs are the gases that contribute to global warming, and they are expressed in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (t CO₂eq), which indicates their contribution to climate change.

Since 2023, Areas has expanded the scope of its carbon footprint calculation to cover its international operations. The company has now completed the calculation of its 2025 global carbon footprint, covering its headquarters and establishments in Spain, France, Portugal, the United States, Germany, Italy, Chile and Mexico, using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol methodology (GHG protocol).

The GHG Protocol is one of the world’s most widely used standards for calculating the GHG emissions of organisations, products, and activities enables organisations to measure emissions, identify their sources, and obtain reliable, rigorous, and standardised information to define emission reduction strategies and monitor progress over time.

Under this methodology, emissions are classified into three categories, known as scopes:

• Scope 1 – Direct emissions. These are emissions generated directly by the organisation through activities under its direct control.
• Scope 2 – Indirect emissions from imported energy. These emissions result from the consumption of purchased electricity, heat, or steam used by the organisation.
• Scope 3 – Other indirect emissions generated by the organisation’s activities. This is usually the largest and most complex category to calculate, as it includes emissions linked to purchased products and services, raw material production, supplier transport and distribution, product use, waste management, business travel, employee commuting, and more.

In Areas’ case, the organisation’s carbon footprint in 2025 amounted to 497,723 t CO₂eq.

The main source of GHG emissions for Areas comes from the raw materials used in the products it sells (therefore part of Scope 3, which accounts for 93% of all Areas’ emissions). Food products generate the highest carbon footprint, particularly meat, followed by pastries, cereals, and dairy products.

This marks the third year in which Areas has calculated its organisational carbon footprint considering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, which makes it possible to compare emissions performance across 2023, 2024, and 2025.