Who Is Northern Monk?
Northern Monk is an independent brewery based in Leeds and dedicated to creating world-class beer experiences. Guided by their mission, Faith in Futures, they prioritise supporting local communities, championing sustainability, and growing responsibly.
With a focus on doing things the right way, Northern Monk aims to donate £150,000 to community causes by 2025, achieve carbon zero by 2030, and become a leading real living wage employer. Their vision is to craft exceptional beer while leaving a positive and lasting impact on future generations.
The Challenge
Northern Monk faced significant challenges in measuring their carbon emissions, particularly Scope 3 emissions across their value chain. Collecting and analysing data was a time-intensive and resource-heavy process, stretching their already limited resources and leaving little capacity for other sustainability initiatives.
Navigating the complexities of carbon footprint calculations required both expertise and high-quality data, which added to the challenge. Ensuring data accuracy and addressing discrepancies highlighted the need for external support to create a meaningful emissions reduction strategy and align their operations with long-term sustainability goals.
The Solution
Northern Monk partnered with Zevero for their expertise in the brewing industry and existing partnerships with key suppliers like Yakima Chief Hops. This collaboration provided Northern Monk with the tools and advisory expertise needed to simplify emissions measurement, improve data quality, and gain a comprehensive overview of their carbon footprint.
Zevero’s AI-driven emissions factor matching was particularly helpful for tackling complex Scope 3 calculations, such as those related to fermentation, saving significant time and improving accuracy. By working closely with Zevero’s sustainability team, Northern Monk identified key emission hotspots to prioritise reduction efforts aligned with their long-term goals. This collaborative approach empowered Northern Monk to focus on actionable insights and set a strong foundation for their decarbonisation journey.
One feature that was very valuable to us was the built-in calculator for emissions from fermentation. It’s not easy to calculate emissions from fermentation, so the calculator was very useful. On top of that, their automated Scope 3 calculations saved so much time.
The Results
With Zevero’s support, Northern Monk has established a strong foundation for their sustainability journey and has taken important steps toward achieving their carbon zero goal by 2030.
Established a baseline for their emissions: Measured emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3, creating a foundation for their carbon reduction strategy.
Improved efficiency: Automated processes reduced manual workloads, saving time and improving data accuracy.
Identified key emission hotspots: Gained a clear understanding of areas contributing most to their emissions, helping to focus reduction efforts.
Zevero has given us a snapshot of our impact on climate change, and helps give our colleagues an understanding of the amount of work we all need to contribute to aim for our carbon zero target in our direct emissions by 2030.
Looking Ahead
Northern Monk is focusing on the next stage of their sustainability journey with support from Zevero. They plan to publish their Impact Report in the summer of 2025, outlining their progress and committing to actionable next steps. Alongside the report, Northern Monk aims to develop a carbon zero plan, detailing reduction strategies to achieve their carbon zero goal by 2030.
Words of advice for other organisations
Consider your reasons and goals for carbon management and speak to others in or around your network (on LinkedIn, for example) if they’ve used Zevero. Try and get an understanding of how in-depth you want to go with your carbon management and see if they’ll be the right fit for you.
