From Complexity to Clarity: HowGood and Watershed Expand Sustainability Data Access

Courtesy AI

HowGood and Watershed announced the expansion of their strategic partnership, aiming to offer companies in the food and beverage sector a more integrated solution for sustainability reporting. The collaboration brings together HowGood’s detailed Scope 3.1 agricultural emissions data with Watershed’s enterprise-level sustainability reporting platform, providing businesses with the tools needed for accurate disclosure and planning.

Headquartered in Stone Ridge, New York, HowGood has built a reputation for delivering ingredient-level sustainability intelligence, while Watershed’s platform supports companies in measuring, managing, and reporting their climate impacts. Together, the two organizations are addressing one of the most complex areas of corporate sustainability: Scope 3 emissions, particularly those related to Purchased Goods and Services.

As regulatory frameworks such as Europe’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), California’s SB 253 and SB 261, and New York’s Senate Bill 3456 come into effect, businesses are facing growing requirements for emissions transparency. Scope 3 emissions — often the largest share of a company’s overall footprint — present particular challenges due to their complexity and dependence on supply chain data. For food and beverage companies, whose value chains are heavily linked to agricultural production, the task of collecting and verifying this information has historically been difficult.

Through this partnership, companies now have access to HowGood’s agricultural emissions data integrated directly into Watershed’s reporting platform. This includes ingredient- and commodity-level information suitable for audit-ready reporting across Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The offering is aligned with key standards such as CSRD, CDP, and the Science-Based Targets initiative’s Forest, Land and Agriculture (SBTi FLAG) guidelines.

In addition to improving the precision of corporate reporting, the integration allows companies to better identify emissions hotspots within their supply chains, helping to prioritize reduction efforts where they are most needed. The system also consolidates data management through a single platform, supporting greater consistency and efficiency across sustainability teams.

“Our objective is to help businesses meet rising reporting standards while supporting their efforts to achieve emissions reductions,” said David Ban, Head of Product Partnerships at Watershed. Michael Streitberger, Head of Partnerships at HowGood, noted that growing regulatory pressures and stakeholder expectations are driving the need for high-quality, streamlined data systems that can adapt to new requirements.

Companies such as Sweetgreen have already started using the integrated solution. Ingredion, a long-time customer of HowGood’s services, is now leveraging the partnership to bring custom product carbon footprinting into Watershed’s CSRD reporting interface.

“Sustainability is a business priority for Ingredion, both in how we manufacture our products and in how we support our customers in their own reporting efforts,” said Brian Nash, Vice President of Corporate Sustainability at Ingredion. “Working with HowGood and Watershed allows us to strengthen alignment across our sustainability activities.”

Looking ahead, HowGood and Watershed plan to deepen their collaboration and extend the benefits of their joint solution across the food and beverage industry. A joint webinar scheduled for May 13 will offer a closer look at the new capabilities, providing companies with insights into how to harness the partnership to accelerate their sustainability journeys.

In an era where the credibility of climate commitments is under intense scrutiny, HowGood and Watershed are offering something rare: a way forward that is as pragmatic as it is ambitious, rooted in real data, built for real action.