Calculate a PCF following the PACT Methodology: Meet Chocolate Corp. An Example Company.

Chocolate Corp. has identified 5 key products for which it would like to achieve greater emissions accuracy across their lifecycle (“studied products”): dark chocolate coating, dark chocolate bar, milk chocolate, cocoa powder and vegan chocolate.

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• Stakeholders: Key downstream customer have requested supplier specific emission data for chocolate coating and vegan chocolate.
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• Strategy: Based on an initial Scope 3 screening, these 5 products amount to 85% of the company’s Scope 3 emissions. While representing a lower percentage of emissions, vegan chocolate is considered strategic to open up new markets. Milk chocolate is not only one of the largest sources of emissions but it is also a key ingredient for many products in the portfolio.
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• Capabilities: Pre-existing LCA capabilities are available for cocoa powder.

Chocolate Corp. conducts a screening exercise to identify the most relevant PCF calculation approach for each of its studied products. For this example, let’s focus on the milk chocolate bar.

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1. In line with the PACT Methodology, the company initially reviews whether there are any specific standards mandated by regulation in the countries in which it operates.
2. Since this is not the case, Chocolate Corp. then turns to its LCA experts to understand whether there are any product category rules specific to chocolates or dairy products that they could leverage.
3. As they were unable to find any, the sustainability experts turned to industry-level guidance, to understand whether any PCF guidance for the food industry have been developed. While there are promising initiatives working on this, no guidance has yet been published.
4. As a result, Chocolate Corp. decides to follow the GHG Protocol Product Lifecycle Standard in combination with PACT Methodology requirements.

The PACT Methodology focuses on the 3 first stages of a product's lifecycle, resulting in Cradle-to-Gate product carbon footprint. In line with the selected calculation methodology for its products, Chocolate Corp now needs to classify its value chain processes, activities and components to the different cradle-to-gate stages.

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As a reminder....

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• Material acquisition and pre-processing: All processes related to procurement of inputs and processing of inputs before they enter production

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• Production: All activities directly related to transforming the raw inputs into final product (at that step of the supply -chain)

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• Distribution and storage: All processes related to transportation and storage for which the reporting company is responsible for (direct or via 3rd party)

Gathering data is a central process of any PCF calculation. For Chocolate Corp., this means understanding which emission sources are relevant to each of their studied products – also known as attributable processes – and data points linked to them.
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To achieve this, the company decides to:

1. Create a full list of attributable processes and data points linked to them
2. Add data sources and data owners to each data point
3. Make a data collection plan with clear responsibilities and timelines

Chocolate Corp. has gathered all required data and can now calculate its first simple PCF for a 100g bar of milk chocolate.



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It does so by multiplying each activity with the relevant emission factor:

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Activity A x Emission Factor A = Emissions A (CO2e)

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Once the previous step is complete, Chocolate Corp. then sums up emissions from all processes attributable to the milk chocolate bar:


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Emissions A (CO2e) + Emissions B (CO2e) + Emissions C (CO2e) = PCF(CO2e)



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It follows this process for all studied products. However, when it comes to coca shells, Chocolate Corp. needs to determine an allocation approach for those used in other applications, namely the production of cocoa liquor. To do so, it follows PACT Methodology’s decision tree to determine the most suitable allocation approach, which consists of a set of questions:

Assessing data reliability is a central component of the PACT Methodology. Since it has been able to gather a significant amount of primary data from its suppliers on a number of components, Chocolate Corp decides to calculate its primary data share.

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To do so, it multiplies the share of emissions of each component with the % of primary data it has received from a number of its supplier or calculated based on internal operations. The total PDS is the calculated by adding up all resulting percentages.

Remember: For an element to be considered primary data, both activity and emissions data needs to be from primary sources! And if a supplier is unable to share % of primary data, then it shall be considered 0%!

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Chocolate Corp. has reviewed the Assurance & Verification requirements of the Pathfinder Methodology in 2024 and found the following:

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• It currently meets the assurance & verification requirements by conducting assurance for its corporate-level disclosure of Scope 1-3 emissions
• As product-level assurance & verification requirements come into play in 2025, it has decided to prepare in advance by reaching out to assurance providers and consolidating evidence for the PCFs of the studied products

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Chocolate Corp. begins to consolidate the required evidence across the three dimensions:

• Data: It maintains a register of all data sources, associated data quality indicators, and data quality checks
• Method: Through the software tool it uses and the attached documentation, it can trace all calculation steps and assumptions going into the calculations
• Governance: Chocolate Corp. creates a list of all people involved in the PCF calculation, their level of expertise, and any steps taken to mitigate potential risks in the reporting process

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Chocolate Corp. has begun reaching out to its existing assurance provider to understand whether the same provider can also conduct the required PCF assurance in 2025. Through its preparation, Chocolate Corp. is well-positioned to understand its assurance needs and can enter the assurance engagement with more confidence.

After calculating and verifying its PCFs, Chocolate Corp is now ready to exchange them through the PACT Network, the PACT's data exchange mechanism, allowing consistency across value chains.

While it would be able to exchange its PCFs building an Excel tool with the required Technical Specifications, it decides to prepare for the future, where it would like to calculate thousands of PCFs. To do so, it has decided to embark on a systems needs assessment that will help them determine what solution would best meet their current and future needs.

To better understand how Chocolate Corp can successfully do so, please head to XYZ.