The Future of Sustainability in Food and Drinks

Introduction

Consumers increasingly expect companies to take a lead role in addressing sustainability concerns, and are more willing to act on their sustainable values and shop ethically. This report aims to understand consumer attitudes towards sustainability, and the latest trends in the market for sustainable food and drinks, in order to identify key opportunities for innovation and growth.

Features and benefits

• Assess the range of different “green” behaviors exhibited by consumers and understand different green consumer segments.
• Understand how to target high potential green consumer segments and effectively alter brand or product positioning to appeal to other segments.
• Gain an insight into how consumers judge sustainability claims and understand how to effectively communicate sustainability benefits to consumers.
• Assess the key routes (organic, Fairtrade, and eco-labeling) to making products more sustainable and appraise the size of key sustainable categories.
• Review some of the major sustainability certifications: what they stand for, and their level of uptake.

Highlights

Sustainability is now a mainstream issue. Most consumers are acutely aware of its extent and impact, ranking environmental concerns as a high priority. Today’s consumers are acting on their values and consider ethical shopping as a way to support their commitments, evaluating the environmental impact of a product when making purchasing decisions.

Consumers are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products if it can be justified through superior performance or additional benefits such as health or future cost savings. The most popular sustainable behaviors, such as using energy efficient appliances or buying locally produced goods, are also budget friendly.

Lack of awareness of sustainable alternatives and confusion over certification labels and manufacturer claims is the greatest obstacle to sustainable consumption. There is a significant opportunity for companies to assist consumers to make more sustainable purchases through improvements in marketing and on-pack information.

Your key questions answered

• What’s the size of the organic and Fairtrade markets and how widespread is the uptake of, and knowledge of, Fairtrade and organic goods?
• What are the key things consumers look for in sustainable food and drinks brands and products, and do their buying habits support their beliefs?
• What different types of green consumer exist, how is their behavior characterized, and how prevalent are these green consumers within the population?
• What information channels do consumers use to assess sustainability issues and green products? How can food and drinks companies leverage them?
• What attributes must a sustainable food and drinks product have and how do they relate to traditional drivers such as value for money or convenience?

Table Of Contents

About the author

Disclaimer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
What is sustainability?
Consumer attitudes to sustainability
Segmentation of sustainable consumers
Three key routes to sustainable food and drinks
Quantifying the sustainable market
Future opportunities in sustainable food and drinks
What is sustainability?
Summary

Introduction
A brief history of sustainable development
Consumption is outstripping bio-capacity
So what does sustainability mean?
Sustainable production
Sustainable business
The business case for sustainability

Consumer attitudes to sustainability
Summary
Introduction
Sustainable consumption in context
Consumers are willing to act on their concerns
Sustainable consumer motives and buying strategies
Concern about the planet’s long term ability to sustain quality of life
Popular green behaviors are also budget friendly
However, green products can command a premium
Despite the economic downturn, consumers still care about being “green”
Consumers have high expectations of companies
Consumers lack information and don’t know who to trust
Green is growing in importance for shoppers
Sustainable consumers increasingly rely on the Internet
Segmentation of sustainable consumers
Summary
Introduction
Sustainable market segmentations
British Market Research Bureau segmentation
Natural Marketing Institute Segmentation
Climate Group Segmentation
Green as a lifestyle
Segmentation by interest
Three key routes to sustainable food and drinks
Summary
Introduction
Sustainable Food
Fairtrade
Organic
Organic pricing
Eco-Labeling
Rainforest Alliance
Marine Stewardship Council
RSPCA Freedom Food
UTZ Certified Good Inside
The Carbon Reduction Label
Quantifying the sustainable market
Summary
Introduction
Fairtrade
Organic opportunities in the global food and drink market
Sustainability in the downturn
Future directions in sustainable food and drinks
Summary
Introduction: the business imperative for sustainability
Future directions in sustainability in food and drinks
How consumer attitudes to sustainability are developing
Future directions in the sustainable food and drinks market

Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography

LIST OF TABLES

Table: Fairtrade food and drink market value, selected countries in Europe and the US, £m, 2005-2015
Table: Organic food and drink market value, selected countries in Europe and the US, £bn, 2005-2015

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure: Principles of sustainable production
Figure: The evolution of sustainable business
Figure: The triple bottom line
Figure: Average ethical spend per UK household, £ per year
Figure: Ethical behaviors
Figure: Environmental issues that concern consumers, % of respondents, 2009
Figure: Sustainable behaviors, % of respondents, 2009
Figure: Barriers to Green Purchasing, % of respondents, 2008
Figure: Consumers think it is important for companies to be green: consumer attitudes to companies’ green behavior, % of 1,000 respondents, 2008
Figure: GoodGuide.Com Scorecard
Figure: GoodGuide.Com Criteria
Figure: NMI segmentation model
Figure: Principles of sustainable food
Figure: Fairtrade Certification
Figure: Current Fairtrade product categories
Figure: A selection of international organic labels
Figure: UK Organic Trademarks
Figure: Spending frequency of organic buyers in 2010
Figure: Top nine reasons for buying organic products, % of respondents
Figure: Some prominent certification labels
Figure: Examples of Rainforest Alliance certified products
Figure: 2010 Rainforest Alliance Certification achievements
Figure: Examples of MSC products from the UK
Figure: UTZ Certified Good Inside brands
Figure: Carbon Label cheat sheet
Figure: Walkers Carbon Footprint
Figure: Daily consumption of key Fairtrade categories in the UK, 2011
Figure: Examples of Fairtrade products
Figure: Creative campaigns that drive growth – Soil Association’s “Why I love Organic” campaign