Clear eco-labelling would give indigenous industry a boost

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Written by Staff Reporter

Thursday, 11 November 2010

Cllear eco-labelling on food products sold in Ireland would radically improve consumers’ awareness of the environmental impact of their purchases, as well as provide the indigenous Irish food industry with a vital boost.

That’s according to Conor Hyde, food business analyst and managing director of Bullseye Food Marketing, who believes that the existence of an array of various different environmental standards is confusing for consumers and unfair to Irish SME food producers.

The call for a streamlined labelling system comes as supermarket shoppers are faced with an ever-growing number of ecological labels and standards that claim to help the consumer make more environmentally-sustainable food choices. Some experts have begun to question the usefulness of presenting consumers with a multitude of different standard systems.

“As a food business consultant, I work with numerous Irish food producers who realise the importance of appealing to consumers who are keen to make environmentally-informed product choices. Unfortunately, the current absence of a streamlined eco-labelling system makes it difficult for some Irish food producers to highlight their excellent ecological credentials. Similarly, the lack of an independent standards body poses a difficulty for shoppers, many consumers frequently become confused and disillusioned by the numerous environmental standards and labelling systems they encounter in their local supermarket,” explains Conor Hyde.

According to Hyde, much of the confusion and dissatisfaction with eco-labelling stems from consumers’ lack of confidence in the independence of some standard systems. He believes that many shoppers are hesitant to take a label’s claims for granted because there’s a perception the awarding body may not be entirely independent:

“We’ve seen significant growth in the number of eco-labels that are now visible across food products and a broad range of other consumer goods. It’s great to see that food producers and manufacturers of all types are reacting to consumers’ demand for products that are kinder to the environment. The problem lies, however, with the fact that it’s difficult to gauge whether the body awarding the eco-label is a transparent independent organisation or whether the awarding body has close ties to an alliance of retailers, distributors or manufacturers.

For example, why should consumers place their confidence in an ecological standard that is actually set out and managed by a body representing manufacturers? Whose true interests do they have at heart? And, why should consumers necessarily trust a supermarket multiple’s claim that one own-brand product in ‘green-label’

packaging is more environmentally-friendly than another similar product that’s presented in regular packaging? In recent years, there’s been a growing awareness of ‘green-washing’, a concept whereby marketing campaigns and packaging are used to superficially project strong ecological credentials. It’s becoming increasingly tough for shoppers to differentiate the bad from the good. It’s time officials from the Department of the Environment and the Department of Enterprise looked carefully at the issue.”

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