COOK sustainability score: 29/100
COOK is a UK maker of frozen ready meals and desserts, headquartered in Sittingbourne, Kent, which it makes in its own kitchens and sells in its own shops and through other retailers. 4% of the meals it sold last year were meat-free.
More about COOK
Cook Trading Limited was incorporated in 2002. 6 million turnover in its year to March 2025.
Founded 2002Head office Sittingbourne, Kent, UKStaff ~1,886 (FY to Mar 2025 average)Revenue ~£131.6M turnover (FY to Mar 2025)Website ↗
COOK's operational emissions fell 22% to 3,230 tCO2e in its 2024/25 year but are 43% above its 2017/18 baseline, and it missed its own 2025 reduction target before replacing it with a per-kilo target. It publishes no supply-chain tonnage, although ingredients are most of its footprint and beef alone about 30%. All its electricity is on renewable contracts and 97% of its packaging is recyclable, but it publishes no water figures.
COOK scores 29/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified October 2026.
That places COOK joint 684th of 900 companies scored, and 3rd of 8 in Food & Beverage (meat/dairy).
What is COOK doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Transparency & Accountability (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Targets & Commitments (1/10, 2/10).
Where COOK lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations6/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling3/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is5/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water1/10No figures for its water use.
- Its climate targets2/10No specific targets with dates.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is COOK's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is COOK's score based on?
16 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by COOK itself; the rest come from independent sources.
8 of 16 sources are independent of the company.
“Grand Total Market Based 24,906 | 3,230 | 4,151”
“our Scope 1 & 2 emissions in an average COOK meal make up just 4.8% of the total.”
“Every year we look at our farm-to-fork carbon emissions at COOK, and beef alone makes up about 30% of the total.”
“Grassroots beef produces around 17kg of carbon dioxide equivalents per kilo, less than half the UK average for farmed beef.”
“The beef has roughly half the carbon footprint of typical British beef, because of the way it's farmed.”
“97% of our suppliers, by spend, are taking action to reduce carbon emissions.”
“Since October 2017 we have been purchasing 100% renewable electricity for our company owned shops and kitchens”
“Our current goal is that less than 1% of all the food we handled ends up as edible food waste.”
“Five COOK retail stores took part in the study”
“Currently, vegetarian ready meals comprise approximately 29-33% of freezer facings.”
“Based on the B Impact assessment, Cook Trading Ltd earned an overall score of 104.4.”
“Cold Chain Federation welcomes new Storage & Distribution member Cook Trading Ltd”
“Cook confirmed via a statement that ABF took a minority stake in Cook in 2020 and has now raised that shareholding”
“Overall sales at the posh ready meal maker and retailer grew by 10% to £131.7m in the year to 31 March 2025”
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How does COOK compare with other food & beverage (meat/dairy) companies?
Where COOK sits among food & beverage (meat/dairy) peers.
Among the 8 major food & beverage (meat/dairy) brands we've scored, COOK sits 3rd of 8.
Who scores higher in Food & Beverage (meat/dairy)?
The 2 companies in the sector scoring nearest above COOK.
Ben & Jerry's publishes detailed annual sustainability reports and rejects carbon offsetting, but emissions intensity is worsening, not improving.
See the breakdown →Danone's emissions fell to 18.6 MtCO2e in 2025, 21% below 2020 on its SBTi boundary against a 34.8% cut targeted for 2030. 94% of its electricity is renewable, mostly through certificates, but fossil fuels are still 56% of its energy.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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