Eco-Ethical Label

Article

bcorporation.net

B Lab is the nonprofit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.

Article

thegoodtrade.com

“Without specifics or certifications, it was impossible to decipher whether a brand was truly sustainable or simply ‘greenwashing.’”

Article

ethicalconsumer.org

The Ethical Markets Report has been acting as an important barometer of UK spending since 1999. We track sales data across a wide range of consumer sectors.

Article

foodprint.org

With Valentine’s day around the corner, it seems like every end-aisle display in the grocery store is piled high with chocolate. You might not know it from its generally low price tag, but chocolate has a host of production issues, from child labor on cacao farms to issues with deforestation. Chocolate isn’t alone in this either: many of our everyday foods, like coffee, bananas and more, are tropical products with invisible supply chains. A number of labels, especially those that invoke “fair trade,” market themselves as a more ethical option, but they usually come at a price premium. So how can you tell if paying extra is worth it? How do fair trade products differ from their conventional counterparts? And does paying more for these products actually guarantee anything meaningful for the people who produced them?

Article

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Consumers, nowadays, are becoming mindful of environmental issues than ever. The rising concerns for the adverse effects of consumption on environmental sustainability are leading to transformation in consumer behaviour. Consumers need relevant sustainability information about the products to shape sustainable purchase behaviours. On this note, marketers and organizations are increasingly using labels and logos for integrating sustainability evidence in their product offerings. This research integrates the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with environmental concern, consumer effectiveness, consumer innovativeness and sustainable label awareness to determine how these affect the sustainable purchase behaviour for food products in China. The findings of structural equation modelling using data gathered from 273 consumers indicate all the constructs as significant, with consumer innovativeness having a negative and significant association. The present research expects to contribute to advancement in the literature on TPB and sustainable labelling by presenting a comprehensive and distinct model. Given the importance of the factors highlighted in the current research, marketers can design appropriate strategies by leveraging these determinants. The outcomes imply that marketers and policymakers need to make the consumers aware of sustainable labels and their favourable effects on the environment to promote sustainable consumer behaviour.

Article

wur.nl

Sustainability labels and classifications can have a positive impact on consumer acceptance and can raise awareness, but they are not actually driving more sustainable consumer behaviour yet. Greater impact could be achieved by combining labels and labelling systems, linking them to other drivers of behaviour and emphasising other benefits such as health. These are the findings of a literature review, ‘Effective labelling of sustainable products’ published by Wageningen University & Research and commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Article

organicseurope.bio

In the current food environment, labels are crucial to provide consumers with information to help them make the sustainable choice. So, a sustainability label should be based on a methodology reflecting the complexities of the agrifood system. For bio-sourced products such as agri-food products and textiles, it should covers ‘external’ costs like pesticide use, impact on biodiversity and climate, animal welfare and more.

Article

sciencedirect.com

Sustainability labels are not sufficiently supporting sustainably-involved consumers in their decision-making. • Meta sustainability labeling (MSL) is proposed to reduce these deficiencies. • The four characteristic elements of MSL are: multi-dimensionality, meta, multi-level, and universal. • Benefits and disadvantages of MSL are identified as well as facilitators of and impediments for implementing it.

Article

fairworldproject.org

“What’s the difference between all these fair trade labels?” It’s a question we get a lot at Fair World Project. And now there’s an updated set of resources to help answer that question, thanks to a global coalition of academics and fair trade organizations. The updated International Guide to Fair Trade Labels provides in-depth analysis of the main fair trade labels in the global marketplace as well as outlines current trends in ethical labeling and the fair trade movement.

Article

kpmg.com

How to demonstrate purpose and create value by selecting the right sustainability standards and labels.

Article

link.springer.com

The specialty cacao industry is unique in that it is thought to offer higher price premiums and claims to provide cacao farmers with considerably more sustainable resources than traditional cacao systems, prioritizing farmer welfare and environmental resource conservation. However, with poor coherency of industry definition, quality quantifiers, and standardization, specialty cacao buyers can set prices and quality requirements without clear definitions that are easily externalized. Poorly defined standards put farmers at a disadvantage, allowing buyers to wield more bargaining power over producers, often assessing beans with independent or internal quality requirements. This research identified current industry definitions, and prices paid to farmers were collected and compared to world market prices, fair trade prices, and commodity producer prices. Five primary pathways were found to define characteristics for specialty cacao: (1) quality, (2) genetics, (3) origin, (4) certification, and (5) direct trade. This research shows for the first time, variability in farm gate prices for specialty cacao, as well as an average price 95.13% higher than commodity cacao, demonstrating the critical role that specialty cacao can play in developing a more sustainable chocolate industry. Ultimately, cacao farmers are agricultural entrepreneurs managing complex businesses that require reasonable access to independent, unbiased, and objective farmer-driven information on price transparency, market averages, and quality grading systems. This research reveals the need for systems-level definitions to quantify quality parameters to help farmers gain access to higher prices offered by buyers and provide incentives for economic opportunities and support for environmental conservation within specialty cacao markets

Article

researchgate.net

For over a decade, the food processing industry has prioritised on food safety and product quality. Alongside, the concept of eco-friendly and sustainable consumption among consumers has recently gained momentum. Sustainable product consumption is being actively promoted by food manufacturers and preferred by consumers over conventional food products. Food labels are considered to be most effective tool of communication in marketing. Mandatory and voluntary food labels adhere to a set of standards and regulations for manufacturing processes. One set of labels that exists for this purpose is called "sustainability labels," and its sole purpose is to identify sustainable food options. In this study, an overview of the current state of research on sustainability labels is provided, along with a systematic analysis of previous work in the field to shed light on its potential future evolution. The authors reviewed a decade of empirical and theoretical research from Scopus journal database. The 89 articles found through a systematic manner were content analysed. The findings reveal that Indian food processing industry has a dearth of literature studies on sustainability labels. Brief insights about challenges and implications were mentioned for further study in the area of sustainable labelling.

Article

forbes.com

It’s been over 25 years since food packaging started displaying its nutritional contents. It’s since become second nature to check the calorie, sugar, salt, and fat content of food or drinks before buying them.

Article

emerald.com

The study's findings point out the role of companies to increase consumers' knowledge on the significance and transparency of their messages, notably the “not tested on animals” claim. They also stress that policymakers in regions where regulation is unclear should at least punish untruthful communication pertaining to animal testing in cosmetic and personal care products.

Article

brightly.eco

This guide to product certifications will help you confidently navigate supermarket shelves and clothing racks like an ethical shopping pro.

Article

sciencedirect.com

This study investigates the relationship between consumer motivation, understanding and use of sustainability labels on food products (both environmental and ethical labels), which are increasingly appearing on food products. Data was collected by means of an online survey implemented in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Poland, with a total sample size of 4408 respondents. Respondents expressed medium high to high levels of concern with sustainability issues at the general level, but lower levels of concern in the context of concrete food product choices. Understanding of the concept of sustainability was limited, but understanding of four selected labels (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Carbon Footprint, and Animal Welfare) was better, as some of them seem to be self-explanatory. The results indicated a low level of use, no matter whether use was measured as self-reported use of different types of information available on food labels or as use inferred from the results of a choice-based conjoint analysis. Hierarchical regression indicated that use is related to both motivation and understanding, and that both motivation, understanding and use are affected by demographic characteristics, human values as measured by the Schwartz value domains, and country differences. The results imply that sustainability labels currently do not play a major role in consumers’ food choices, and future use of these labels will depend on the extent to which consumers’ general concern about sustainability can be turned into actual behaviour.

Article

ecolabelindex.com