Principal Drivers for Promoting Social Attributes in Food and Other Products

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Principal Drivers for Promoting Social Attributes
in Food and Other Products

• increasing relative importance of non-price
  attributes of food associated with rise in
  household income
• increasing level of education (particularly for
  women)
• pervasive presence and influence of the media
  (particularly, TV and quality press)
• Maslovian theory indicates search for
  self-actualisation (making me a better
  person)
• active professional special interest/pressure
  groups
• shareholder pressure on companies to embrace
  triple bottom line
• companies respond on social issues for
  offensive and defensive commercial reasons
• governments react to rising level of voter
  noise and promulgate market intervening
  regulation
• producers get smarter in communicating with
  consumers

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Fairtrade Products in the UK

• 250 Fairtrade-labelled products from 100
  companies largely food and beverage bananas,
  coffee, tea, honey, chocolate, nuts, etc.
• Tesco, J Sainsbury, Asda, Co-operative, Waitrose
  all announce intent to increase Fairtrade product
  offer e.g. Tesco 40 -70 products Co-operative
  60 100 in 2004
• Cafédirect No. 6 coffee company in UK (with
  disproportional impact on market and competitors
  - Nescafé , Starbucks, PG with its Millstone
  specialty coffee brand)
• J Sainsbury launch Fairtrade Private Label tea

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MSC Objectives

• To conserve the worlds wild seafood supply
• BY
• Rewarding responsible fisheries
• BY
• Using a product label to recognise them
• AND
• To work in partnership with all stakeholders

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MSC Product Lines Over Time
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Race-to-the-Top Initiative Tracking
Supermarket Progress towards a Fairer and Greener
Food System in the UK

• Aim to scrutinise supermarket company commitment
  to sustainable development
• from energy usage and waste management
• treatment of their labour force
• how a company deals with farmers and farm workers
• measures used to protect the countryside and
  wildlife
• the promotion of animal welfare
• contribution to public health goals
• and how individual supermarkets support local
  economies (food miles orientation)

Source www.racetothetop.org
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Consumers Shopping Behaviour Does Not
Necessarily Reflect their Responses to Ethical
Buying Surveys. Why?

• moral pressure in interviews
• depends on shopping situation weekend green
• income level is a significant factor
• social benefit not well-communicated at POS
• credence attributes intrinsically difficult to
  sell
• social benefit insufficiently compelling to
  induce purchase saving the world too
  abstract saving our local beach may connect

But, the spend on ethical products is increasing
inexorably!
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Some Conclusions and Reflections

• Ethical/social/environmental purchases are not
  top-of-mind for the large majority of shoppers
• ethical products that awaken both consumer
  altruism and self-interest most likely to succeed
  in the market
• remember, however, it is the prerogative of the
  shopper to be illogical and/or irrational
• challenge of being seen, heard and understood
  amongst the mass of products on the supermarket
  shelves
• supermarkets are not development or social
  agencies they are blunt market instruments.
  Responsibilities for meeting ethical sourcing
  criteria will be pushed back along the supply
  chain

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Conclusions and Reflections continued

• global food industry must connect with key
  special ethical interest groups remember LBJ!
• big FMCG and food service companies are
  followers, not leaders on ethical issues.
  Opportunity lost to be influential force for
  good?
• if governments get ahead of the market on
  ethical issues, they can damage significantly the
  competitiveness of a domestic industry
• the stage of market development for ethical
  products differs by (amongst other things)
  geography and culture. Prospect of blood on the
  floor in the WTO (Eurotosh or Renaissance
  Euro-Shopper)?
• in the longer-term, the consumer and citizen
  converge they shake hands by 2020?