SB 253 ENFORCEMENT: 17 MONTHS · COSTCO SCOPE 3 DEADLINE AUG 2027

You invest in sustainability. Make sure customers value it too.

SUSTAINABILITY VISIBILITY · SHELF TO SUPPLY CHAIN

Most sustainability investment is invisible at the moment it matters most — when a customer is standing at the shelf deciding what to buy. YKO makes your investment visible where decisions happen, and tells you whether it’s working.

Try: Patagonia · Cotopaxi · Yerba Madre · Clover Sonoma · Ben & Jerry’s

Analyst-verified scores · 72-hour investigations · Live shelf signal from GreenSpecs

Check your readiness — 5 questions, 90 seconds →
Where do you stand

Most brands score under 40. Find out in 90 seconds.

Question 1 of 5
Does your company sell products in California or the EU?
Supplier data first?
Generate the request letter — free.
Buyer questionnaires ask you for data your suppliers hold. Draft a professional, regulation-cited request in under two minutes.
Open the letter tool →
What Tuesday looks like

A buyer questionnaire just landed. 9:14 AM.

Pick what you make. Watch the same morning play out twice.

Without YKO
0:00
With YKO
0:00

The proof lives one tier below the tools everyone sells.
We’re the only ones who go get it.

Your supplier gets a text with a link. They photograph the certificate. It lands in your evidence locker. Your trust tier moves. No portal. No login. No training.

40 → 4
Hours per
questionnaire
~$15K / yr
Staff time recovered
at 5 questionnaires per year
1 line review
Lost at a regional grocer costs
more than a decade of YKO
See a live passport →

This is not about catching one bad label.

Every scan sends a signal. Consumers are paying attention to what companies claim, what they prove, and what they have not yet addressed. One scan helps one person make a better choice. Many scans create pressure — and pressure moves supply chains.

To every brand that has done real work

Published Scope 3 data. Earned a real certification. Reduced packaging. Shortened a supply chain. That work is visible here, and it matters. Every documented improvement nudges the whole chain. Thank you for being part of this.

THE BLIND SPOT
You measure everything except the moment it matters most.
You can see
Sales
Clicks
Campaigns
Audit scores
You cannot see
Why someone put it back
What your competitor claimed
Whether your claims landed
What the buyer actually questioned
The gap
“That moment — at the shelf, in seconds — has never been measured. Until now.”
GreenSpecs captures every scan. YKO turns it into competitive intelligence for brands, buyers, and investors.
THE SHELF MOMENT
“At the shelf. In seconds. Decision made.”
MultipleCities active
Real-timeSignal updates
GrowingScan network
GreenSpecs captures every consumer scan at the shelf — what was seen, what was compared, whether the sustainability claims registered. YKO turns that raw signal into the feedback loop your sustainability team has never had.
Consumer
Scans product at shelf. Claims assessed in seconds.
→
YKO
Signal becomes brand intelligence and competitive benchmark.
→
Brand
Better claims. Better positioning. Higher conversion.
Signal gets stronger with every scan.
See GreenSpecs →
TWO PROBLEMS. ONE SIGNAL.
$150B
in US sustainable consumer spending operates on broken signal. Brands invest in sustainability. They never see if it changed behavior. NYU Stern CSB, 2024
42%
of green claims found false or exaggerated. Claims that don’t hold up at shelf level don’t drive conversion — and are becoming a liability. EU Commission, 2023
4%
of global revenue — maximum EU Green Claims Directive fine exposure. The same claims that aren’t converting are also creating regulatory risk.
WHY COMPANIES TRUST YKO
Independent. Analyst-verified. No vested interest in your score.
INVESTORS & FAMILY OFFICES
Capital shouldn’t fund claims that won’t survive scrutiny.
YKO gives you the independent read before the LP asks the question. Verified scores, regulatory exposure, and claim-by-claim analysis — not a brand’s own reporting.
Investor access →
BRAND SUSTAINABILITY LEADS
You need to know what a buyer sees — not what you filed.
YKO scores what customers and buyers actually encounter: shelf claims, certifications, competitor position, regulatory exposure. The gap between your report and your score is your conversion problem.
Score your brand →
PROCUREMENT & SUPPLY CHAIN
One link to your supplier. Documentation that holds.
Send a supplier a YKO link. They respond once. The evidence is verified and stored — so when a retailer asks at the worst possible time, you already have the answer.
Supply chain intelligence →
RETAIL BUYERS & ESG ANALYSTS
72-hour independent investigation. No brand involvement.
Request a full YKO investigation of any brand before you stock the shelf or write the report. Analyst-verified, NDA-backed, delivered in 72 hours. First investigation free for qualified buyers.
Run an investigation →
INVESTIGATED BRANDS — LIVE DATA — CLICK ANY TO READ THE FINDINGS
Score your brand →
Brand-declared Document-backed Third-party verified
How scoring works →
"See what a buyer sees when they look at your sustainability claims."
Pick a brand. Takes 8 seconds.
Reading public claims...
WHAT THE BRAND SAYS
WHAT YKO FINDS
"This is what shows up in a procurement audit."
THREE GAPS TO CLOSE BEFORE YOUR NEXT BUYER MEETING
Now imagine knowing this before the audit.
YKO runs this analysis for your brand and your top competitors — so you know exactly where you stand in the category before a buyer asks.
Get your gap report — free →
BEFORE — REPORT → MARKET → GUESS
You invest in sustainability programs.
You publish the report.
You market the claims.
You never see whether they landed.
A buyer requests Scope 3 data. You scramble.
AFTER — SIGNAL → INSIGHT → ADAPT
You know what consumers saw at the shelf.
You know which claims didn’t register.
You know exactly where competitors have coverage you don’t.
You walk into the audit with the answers.
Sustainability marketing becomes authentic again.
This is revenue. Not reporting.
WHERE WE STARTED
“A North Bay dairy brand uploads its supplier documentation. YKO surfaces three water-intensity gaps that don’t appear in any ESG filing — and flags which claims won’t survive a Whole Foods buyer questionnaire.”
North Bay food and agricultural community — scored first, because this is our home market.
See Clover Sonoma’s score →
You know what you report.
We help customers know your story.
Get your score + 3 competitors → Investigate a company
For brand marketing leads who want conversion data · For sustainability teams preparing for buyer audits · For investors vetting portfolio companies · For procurement teams screening supplier claims
Compliance Landscape

Know where to start.

California and EU frameworks require different tools at different thresholds. Here’s the honest map.

SB 253 + SB 261 in scope
>$1B Annual Revenue
What you must do
  • Report Scope 1 + 2 emissions by August 10, 2026 (based on 2025 data)
  • Report Scope 3 value chain emissions by 2027
  • Align to GHG Protocol standards
  • Third-party assurance required
  • Climate financial risk disclosure aligned to TCFD / IFRS S2
Scope 3 mapping takes 6–18 months. If tracking isn’t live now, the August 2026 Scope 1+2 deadline is at risk.
Recommended tools
Watershed — automated emissions tracking, audit-ready CARB filing Workiva — integrated ESG reporting and assurance workflows CARB Digital Portal — official submission destination
YKO’s role
After you file, YKO reads your disclosed data against your public sustainability claims — before investors and regulators do.
SB 261 in scope
>$500M Annual Revenue
What you must do
  • Disclose climate-related financial risks and strategies
  • Align to TCFD or IFRS S2 frameworks
  • First deadline: January 1, 2026
  • No formal third-party audit required yet
SB 261 is narrative-heavy by design — but narrative without underlying data is the highest-risk posture. CARB is taking a good-faith approach in year one. Investors will read it.
Recommended tools
Watershed — TCFD report generation Workiva — structured risk disclosure workflows IFRS S2 Framework — official standard reference
YKO’s role
YKO reads your TCFD narrative against your operational claims and flags mismatches — the exact gap regulators and analysts are trained to find.
Voluntary + EU scope
<$500M · EU Operations
What applies
  • EU CSRD applies if you sell into EU markets or have EU subsidiaries — regardless of US revenue
  • EU Green Claims Directive requires substantiation for any environmental marketing in EU markets
  • SB 253/261 don’t apply at this size — but your supply chain customers who are in scope will ask you for Scope 3 data
Smaller brands supplying to Costco, Target, or any >$1B retailer will receive Scope 3 data requests before 2027. Getting ahead of it is a competitive advantage, not a compliance burden.
Recommended tools
Watershed — scales to smaller companies, Scope 3 supplier tools GHG Protocol — free methodology standards CARB SB 253 FAQ — scope and threshold clarification CARB Workshops — free public workshops for first filings
YKO’s role
YKO brand pages surface your voluntary disclosures and score them for specificity — giving you credibility with retail buyers and enterprise partners who need to see your supply chain story.
Frameworks
GHG Protocol · TCFD · IFRS S2 · EU CSRD · EU Green Claims Directive · SB 253 · SB 261
Ready to see your score?
90-second check →