Food & Agro-industriesFormulation
Green-Score (formerly Eco-Score): how it is calculated for a food product
Updated October 2026.
The Green-Score is the new name of the Eco-Score since the end of 2024. It is a voluntary environmental score for food products, run by a group of organisations around Open Food Facts, Yuka and ECO2 Initiative, and based on the Agribalyse life cycle data of ADEME and INRAE. This guide explains how it is calculated, which data it needs and what it can and cannot tell you.
How the Green-Score is calculated
The calculation has two stages:
- A base score from the life cycle assessment of the product category in Agribalyse (from the farm to the end of life): every product of the same category starts from the same value.
- Bonuses and maluses that make the difference between products of a category: production method and labels (organic, for example), origin of the ingredients and transport, environmental policy of the countries of origin, packaging (materials, recyclability), and ingredients linked to deforestation or threatened species.
The result is expressed as a letter. Because the base comes from a category average, the Green-Score is good at comparing products of the same category, and much less at comparing a cheese with a soup.
The data you need
| Data | Where it comes from | Common pitfall |
|---|---|---|
| Product category (Agribalyse) | Choice made per product | A category too broad or wrong |
| Ingredients and their quantities | The recipe | Sub-ingredients of compound raw materials |
| Country of origin of each ingredient | Suppliers | Origin of the supplier instead of the ingredient |
| Labels and certifications | Supplier certificates | Expired certificate |
| Packaging materials and weights | Packaging specifications | Missing secondary packaging |
Other environmental scores
- Environmental cost (Ecobalyse): the French public method. For clothing, its display is voluntary since 1 October 2025 under a decree of September 2025. For food, the method was stabilised in May 2026; no decree has been published and the display remains voluntary.
- Planet-Score: co-created in 2021 by ITAB with partners, now held by an endowment fund; voluntary, with a registered logo granted to member brands.
- PEF single score: the European product environmental footprint method, which weights the 16 impact categories.
These methods do not give the same result, because they do not weigh the same impacts. Choose the one your customers and retailers ask for, and keep the underlying data: it serves all of them.
Calculating the Green-Score in beCPG
In beCPG, the LCA list of raw materials, packaging and resources is filled from Agribalyse, and the life cycle assessment of each product is calculated from its recipe, packaging and process. The Green-Score starts from the Agribalyse score of the category chosen on the product, then applies the bonuses and maluses from the origins, labels and packaging already in the PLM, with the detail of each one. When a supplier or a packaging changes, the score is recalculated.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Green-Score the same as the Eco-Score?
Yes: it is the new name, since the end of 2024, of the score formerly called Eco-Score.
Is environmental labelling mandatory for food in France?
No. For food, the environmental cost method was stabilised in 2026, but its display remains voluntary and no decree has been published.
Why do two different products get the same score?
Because they share the base score of their category. Only the bonuses and maluses tell them apart, so the data on origins, labels and packaging matter.
Official information: Green-Score (Open Food Facts) and Agribalyse (ADEME).
Go further: read our life cycle assessment guide and our article on the PPWR, and discover packaging and eco-design and formulation in beCPG. Download the beCPG brochure.
