Cleaner, greener, ethical, sustainable: these are demands of the new food shopper, according to an international expert on the food industry.Professor David Hughes, the keynote speaker at this week’s National Farmers Federation congress, told delegates that there had been a move towards seasonal eating, nostalgic foods and ethical consumption. Professor Hughes, who earlier told the conference about Australia’s high standing for quality but limited linkage to specific products other than... ...Read more »

First there was wind and solar energy, now UK supermarket operator Sainsbury’s is opening a store where the checkouts will be powered by people.In a European first, Sainsbury’s is installing a revolutionary invention which creates green energy every time a customer simply drives into the car park to do their shopping. The system ensures that whenever a vehicle passes over the ‘Kinetic Road Plates’ in the car park, energy is captured which would otherwise be wasted. Sainsbury’s... ...Read more »

The Chief Executive of the UK’s largest supermarket operator, Tesco, has given a message of hope for the future of retailers provided they adhere to the simple philosophy of reacting to the desires of customers rather than telling them what they want. “Now, more than ever, we must be the consumer’s champion. Deliver for the customer, and you will survive,” Sir Terry Leahy said in a speech at the British Retail Consortium’s Annual Conference last week. “Yes –... ...Read more »

Food and beverage marketers will need to be more careful with their ‘green’ product claims after the board of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) announced they would proceed with the development and implementation of an Environmental Claims Advertising and Marketing Code to address the increasing concerns about ‘greenwashing’. Food and beverage companies have been increasingly keen to promote their products as environmentally-friendly in the past few... ...Read more »

The search for sustainability has seen countless companies pledging to become sustainable in one way or another, but the flood of new labels signifying “green” or ethical is leading to confusion and green fatigue amongst some consumers. As a result, the European Union is contemplating introducing an Ecolabel for food products in the future. The obvious difficulty is the inevitable argument as to what is truly green and sustainable. It is widely considered as fact that we are currently... ...Read more »

Trust is seen as the critical issue of 2009 by market research firm Mintel, particularly in America – where financial issues have helped lead to a slowdown here in Australia. The research suggests that trust goes far beyond the financial system and extends to food companies looking for their share of the consumer dollar. “In the first two months of 2009, we’ve already seen the dire need to rebuild trust in America,” Joan Holleran, Director of Research at Mintel, explained.... ...Read more »

The economy is starting to cast a shadow over green living’s glow. According to new consumer research from Mintel, the number of Americans who claim to almost always or regularly buy green products remains unchanged since last year, at 36% – suggesting the “green” trend has begun to stagnate. This lack of growth comes after tripling the previous year (from 12% in 2007 to 36% in 2008, according to Mintel consumer survey data). Marcia Mogelonsky, Ph. D and senior research analyst... ...Read more »

Tesco opened its first store of the future last week in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, a store they believe to be the UK’s most energy efficient. The store has been built using Tesco’s new low carbon blueprint which will provide a foundation for stores built in the UK going forward, and follows similar claims by other UK supermarkets last year that they had opened the region’s most energy efficient supermarket. Asda and Sainsbury’s, the region’s second and third largest... ...Read more »

Victorian-based Cool Change Natural Spring Water has launched Australia’s first beverage (spring water) packaged in a bottle made from plants, as they seek to “go green” in an industry often criticised for a lack of sustainability. Rather than packaging a drink in PET, a polymer (plastic) derived from crude oil, Cool Change Natural Spring Water bottles are made using Ingeo PLA, derived from annually renewable sources – plants. This new material is derived from plant sugars... ...Read more »

New findings suggest that many customers concerned with the environment are not following through by purchasing environmentally friendly products. Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), a leading global provider of consumer, shopper, and market insights for consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, has revealed new findings from a study based on TNS’ Shades of Green Segmentation, which highlight distinct variations in buying behaviors even among those consumers who claim... ...Read more »