The carbon footprint of apples, unpackaged
Apples, unpackaged emits about 0.101 kg CO₂e per 1 kg of fresh fruit/vegetable. Below is where that figure actually comes from — every stage of the chain, not a single headline number.
- Transport
- 0.093 kg
- 92%
- Moving it from farm to processor to shop.
- Processing
- 0.008 kg
- 8%
- Turning the raw product into food: milling, refining, slaughter, curing.
How it is grown changes the number by 44%
These are 9 separately assessed production systems for the same product. Emissions are farm-gate — the part the grower controls — and range from 0.056 to 0.1 kg CO₂e. A label on a shelf almost never tells you which one you are holding.
- Apple, conventional, fixed spraying system and electric platform, at orchardlowest0.056
- Apple, conventional, electric platform, at orchard0.063
- Apple, conventional, scab-tolerant, at orchard0.079
- Apple, conventional, fixed spraying system, at orchard0.08
- Cider apple, conventional, national average, at orchard0.082
- Apple, conventional, national average, at orchard0.086
- Apple, production mix, national average, at orchard0.086
- Apple, conventional, non scab-tolerant, at orchard0.087
- Apple, conventional, rain cover, at orchard0.1
kg CO₂e per 1 kg of fresh fruit/vegetable, cradle to farm gate. Farm-gate figures exclude processing, packaging and transport, so they sit below the full total above.
Lower-carbon alternatives
Each emits less than half as much as apples, unpackaged.
Similar products
Common questions
- How much CO2 does apples, unpackaged produce?
- About 0.101 kg CO₂e per 1 kg of fresh fruit/vegetable, measured across the supply chain. That is roughly the same as driving 1 km in an average petrol car.
- What drives the footprint of apples, unpackaged?
- Transport is the largest contributor at 0.093 kg CO₂e, about 92% of the total. Transport is only 0.093 kg — which is why what you eat matters far more than how far it travelled.
- Does how apples, unpackaged is produced change its footprint?
- Yes, substantially. Across 9 production methods in this dataset the farm-gate emissions range from 0.056 to 0.1 kg CO₂e — a difference of 44%.
- Where does this data come from?
- The WRAP UK Food & Drink Emission Factor Database v2.0, which aggregates peer-reviewed life-cycle assessments. This product's figures come from Foodsteps.
Figures from the WRAP UK Food & Drink Emission Factor Database v2.0, which aggregates published life-cycle assessments; this product's data originates from Foodsteps, for UK. Real values vary by farm, region and method — treat these as the shape of the problem, not a measurement of any one item on your shelf.
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