At the Food Tek Pack 2025 conference, held alongside the Intrapack 2025 exhibition, Ishita Bhatnagar, co-founder of Zissions, offered a compelling perspective on what she calls the “hidden 90%” of emissions in the Indian food ecosystem. In her keynote session on making the food supply chain carbon positive, she took the audience through a mix of insight, challenge, and optimism – backed by data, engineering logic and real-world case studies.
Before beginning her talk, Bhatnagar engaged the audience with a quick quiz. She asked attendees to estimate how much of the total carbon footprint of a standard 10-rupee chip packet comes from logistics, packaging, and farm-level activities. When the answer – 80 to 95% – flashed on the screen, the hall reacted with surprise. “For most food brands, less than 10% of the carbon cost is actually spent inside the factory,” she said. “More than 80% lies in the farm, on the truck, or in the wrapper.”
This revelation set the tone for her central message – to build a truly sustainable and carbon-positive food supply chain, industry players must move beyond focusing only on internal factory emissions and address scope 3 emissions – where the real impact lies.
Turning EPR from a compliance burden into an opportunity
Referencing the new EPR amendments for 2025–26, Bhatnagar pointed out that brands are now effectively handed “a credit card” by regulators. “You have been swiping it every time you send a plastic packet. Now, the bill is due,” she remarked. The mandate to incorporate 30% recycled content next year, she said, should not be viewed merely as a tax but as a strategic opportunity. You could actually use this opportunity in adversity to fix your supply chain – and even create new revenue streams.”
She emphasised that a carbon-positive system is not just about offsetting emissions. In food engineering terms, she explained it as a balance equation: emissions from production, logistics and packaging must be nullified – not simply balanced – through sequestration or reduction via recycling. When recycling (‘C-recycle’) and sequestration exceed emissions, a supply chain can be deemed carbon positive.
The supply chain hotspots – logistics, packaging and farm
Through the course of her presentation, Bhatnagar identified the three most crucial emission hotspots. Logistics, she noted, is the most “convenient” emitter – highly impactful, poorly measured, yet relatively straightforward to optimize. Even minor route improvements can meaningfully reduce carbon loads and fuel costs.
Packaging remains an essential focus area. She described the shift towards mono-materials as transformational. “Think of them like Lego bricks,” she explained. Unlike traditional multi-layer packaging bonded like sandwiches, mono-materials are pure, separable and infinitely rebuildable. “They directly reduce EPR fees and help eliminate monster hybrid structures like BOPP–PET laminates.”
But recycling is impossible without collection, and here she highlighted a persistent gap. “You cannot ignore the informal sector,” she stressed. “The challenge is converting the informal to the formal.” Digital aggregation is one solution – registering waste pickers through apps, tracking material flows, and marking packaging with QR codes or digital identifiers for traceability. She also referenced the government’s new Namaste initiative, which enables companies to buy verified credits from material recovery organisations.
From theory to practice – Zissions’ case studies
To address the measurement and verification challenges embedded within the supply chain, Bhatnagar introduced the work of Zissions. “We treat your supply chain as a computational physics problem,” she said, describing how the company builds simulations to map emissions and optimize systems. She presented three case studies:
A digital twin for recyclers: A major recycling partner faced the challenge of proving the low-carbon value of recycled PP to global brands. By creating a digital twin – which enabled real-time tracking of energy and mass balances – Zissions helped the recycler generate verifiable data. The outcome: they were able to sell certified low-carbon material at a premium. “We turned compliance into revenue,” she said.
Logistics as a carbon sink: Using computational modelling originally applied in heavy industries, Zissions optimized goods movement for companies such as Myntra and Kone India. Bhatnagar noted that food logistics is even more predictable, making the sector ripe for optimisation. “Every kilometre you save is a direct reduction in carbon – and in your own operational expenses,” she said. The takeaway: sustainability, in many cases, is merely a byproduct of efficiency.
Simulation-based material optimization: Switching packaging materials across a supply chain carries risk and cost. Zissions addressed this using finite element analysis to design and stress-test packaging structures under real-world conditions. One example involved working with a delivery giant to reduce plastic in bags without compromising strength. “We want the product to fail in software so it doesn’t fail in the market,” she added.
She also underlined opportunities in upstream farming – solar pumps, precision fertilizers – and in downstream cold chain infrastructure. Much of India’s carbon footprint, she explained, is “wasted” through food rot. Solar-powered cold storage could not only reduce losses but also generate tradable carbon credits.
Bhatnagar concluded her keynote with a simple but urgent reminder: “You can do nothing if you do not measure your footprint.” She urged industry leaders to embrace digital models immediately, as mandated under EPR reporting.
