Single sustainability claim advocated

The recommendation was made in a report​ by insight experts Lumina Intelligence after it found that consumers were failing to engage with certain brands online as they struggled to understand sustainable messages. 

The report​ analysed 2,806 best-selling chocolate, ground coffee and tea products in 20 countries.

More than a quarter (28%) were found to make sustainability claims.

However, consumer engagement remained low as shoppers had difficulty deciphering ethical standards. 

Sustainable claims​

Of 1,395 sustainable claims made on-pack and in product descriptions, 17 related to different organic certifications, five referred to different company sustainability programme claims and seven were for third-party certification claims. Generic fair-trade terms were also included. 

Products making ethical claims tended to have lower review volumes than those without, while organic-certified products had the lowest review volumes, suggesting a gulf between apparently desired ethical products and those shoppers actually purchased and engaged with, the report said. 

“The spearhead of sustainability of the last 30 years – sourcing certified volumes – is fighting to prove its worth as companies shift to self-managed sustainability programmes,”​ said Lumina sustainable food and drink analyst, journalist and report author Oliver Nieburg. 

Chocolate, coffee and tea​

“These company programmes could be impactful, but are often shrouded in secrecy. A nebulous mesh of sustainable claims has emerged on products and online, leaving chocolate, coffee and tea consumers struggling to understand what is fair.”​

Consumers were also found to favour mission-led brands, like refugee-supporting Nomi Teas, that related to a specific understandable cause rather than a generic programme “that is largely meaningless to consumers”​ over bigger firms promoting their ethical credentials. 

The report​ suggested the development of an ISO claim to which all certification and company programme labels complied. 

This “could better signal to consumers that a product respects social and environmental conditions than a bespoke label on pack that adds to the mass of other labels, creates confusion and fails to engage consumers”​, it said.

Lumina Intelligence is an insights service run by Food Manufacture​'s publisher William Reed. It produces data and reports on a range of topics​.