The global delivery company partnered with Watershed to cut its footprint measurement time in half—while meeting global regulatory demands
As one of the world’s leading food delivery platforms, Delivery Hero operates in around 70 markets through its different local brands. To scale a global sustainability program across this complex footprint, the company transitioned from fragmented consulting support to Watershed’s centralized platform—enabling consistent measurement, regulatory readiness, and actionable insights for decarbonization. With Watershed, they’ve cut reporting timelines in half and built a strong foundation for both compliance and climate action.
Challenge
Operating eleven local brands in around 70 markets made it challenging to measure emissions consistently or stay aligned on regulatory goals. Most emissions came from scope 3 sources outside of Delivery Hero’s direct control—like delivery riders and restaurant packaging—making change hard to drive. With increasing pressures from CSRD, the team needed a unified system for data, disclosures, and audit-ready reporting.
Solution
Delivery Hero partnered with Watershed to unify emissions measurement, access specialised expertise, and reduce complexity across markets. They’ve been able to tailor calculations to reporting regulations as well as get support across climate, product, and policy. They now collaborate with Watershed for key reporting prep, such as for the upcoming CSRD—from drafting responses to verifying data and supporting audits—as well as footprint measurement and decarbonization action.
Results
Challenge
Delivery Hero operates in around 70 markets through its leading delivery brands including Europe-based foodora, talabat in the MENA region and Woowa, its South Korean business —each tailored to local needs, but unified under global systems. Its central sustainability team sets the global strategy, while regional teams adapt, implement, and execute locally. “We set the top-line initiatives to drive impact, while giving local brands flexibility to create their own market-specific projects,” explains Dimitra Theodoropulos, Global Director of Sustainability.
This model enables market-specific action—but makes consistency, accuracy, and benchmarking a challenge across Delivery Hero’s regionally distributed footprint.
Nearly 99% of Delivery Hero’s emissions fall under scope 3, with rider deliveries and packaging accounting for around 65–70% of that total. As an intermediary platform, Delivery Hero has limited direct control over these categories—like the vehicles riders use or how restaurants package food—especially across markets with different norms and regulations.
To drive change beyond its direct control, the team focused on making the business case for sustainability—but needed a clear view of data across the Delivery Hero supply chain to guide its strategy.
Faced with a patchwork of evolving reporting needs—from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to brand-level IPO disclosures and global regulations—Delivery Hero wanted a scalable way to stay compliant. While most regulatory pressure comes from Europe and the U.S., there is existing—and increasing—pressure to report globally, presenting an additional challenge for the team.
“We needed a platform to help us stay compliant with constantly evolving local and global requirements. ”
Dimitra Theodoropulos,
Global Director of Sustainability
To meet these demands, the team needed a centralized system to streamline data collection across markets, eliminate duplication, and support multiple frameworks. And to be audit-ready for both current and anticipated regulations by prioritising structure and traceability across the organization’s distributed teams and systems.
Solution
Delivery Hero previously worked with multiple consulting partners, which provided valuable guidance but also came with challenges around consistency and efficiency as the team grew. To streamline measurement, scale impact, and access centralized expertise, they partnered with Watershed to develop an end-to-end climate solution.
What stood out most at Watershed were the people. “Watershed’s expert support outshone its competitors,” says Theodoropulos. The team valued Watershed’s unique blend of carbon expertise and business insight.
“It’s great to have experts who not only understand climate methodologies, but also take the time to get to know our business,” says Theodoropulos. “That combination is rare—and incredibly helpful.”
“Having a thought partner—not just a tool—is what makes the difference with Watershed.”
Dimitra Theodoropulos,
Global Director of Sustainability
The Watershed team meets weekly with Delivery Hero to provide hands-on support across advisory, policy, and product areas. During a shift in team ownership at Delivery Hero, Watershed helped new leadership and team members spot missing data, uncover new opportunities, and ensure a smooth handoff.
Results
In just three months—half the time it took the previous year—Delivery Hero completed its global carbon footprint using Watershed. The team now tailors emissions calculations, standardizes data, and updates directly in-platform—saving time and reducing error. “It’s a big win for our lean, highly effective team,” says Akansha Chauhan, Senior Specialist of Sustainability and CSR.
Watershed also streamlines disclosure—letting the team send data directly to CDP, prepare for CSRD reporting, and have confidence in the audit-readiness of their data.
“We’re always chasing efficiency—and Watershed helps us to unlock it. Finishing faster means we can focus on what matters: structure, planning, and staying ahead.”
Akansha Chauhan,
Senior Specialist of Sustainability and CSR
This efficiency gain has allowed the team to better focus on pressing regulatory needs.
Delivery Hero counts on Watershed for regulatory readiness—from verifying data to creating centralized documentation for current regulations, like the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB) in Germany, as well as anticipated regulations, such as CSRD. “Watershed gives us a single source of truth,” says Theodoropulos. “We capture everything in one place—without duplicating effort.” For example, they push data directly into the CDP portal, saving time and streamlining reporting.
For the upcoming CSRD—an especially complex regulation—Delivery Hero plans to draw on Watershed’s expert guidance. “Watershed's expertise will help us draft responses- and give us confidence to report on upcoming regulations,” says Chauhan.
“Watershed’s technical expertise has helped us to better interpret the regulations we currently disclose and prepare us for upcoming and evolving requirements.”
Akansha Chauhan,
Senior Specialist of Sustainability and CSR
“One of Watershed’s features pulls quantitative data and maps it to each reporting framework’s needs,” explains Elena Ailin Ma, Principal, Sustainability. “It’s been incredibly helpful for ensuring we submit the right data, in the right format, and catch any gaps.”
For audits, the team always feels ready. Watershed shows what inputs were used, which emissions factors applied—so nothing is left to guesswork. “Watershed shows us exactly how each figure is calculated—so we can walk auditors through every step with full transparency,” says Chauhan.
For major emissions categories—like packaging and groceries—Delivery Hero uses Watershed’s standardized data and evolving methodology to stay on top of its footprint.
The team also worked with Watershed to introduce region-specific extrapolation and align categories across its global markets to drive more accurate emissions data.
Delivery Hero works with Watershed to identify climate insights and prioritize the highest-impact reduction levers to deliver its sustainability goals. It essentially helps the team to see where emissions come from—and how to reduce them. “Watershed makes our data actionable,” explains Theodoropulos. “It helps us evolve our goals based on what we’re learning. We want to make a real impact—not just on paper. Watershed helps us find the levers to do that.”
Delivery Hero’s climate work is now faster, more focused, and built for scale. With Watershed, the team is better equipped to keep raising the bar—across its many markets.
Customer Story
Customer Story
Customer Story