Ethic is such an important player in business. As I read in the report,
the grocery marketplace has been moving towards food and drinks produced
organically. Lately, customers are more likely to pay attention to the
ingredients labelled on everything they consume. Although The Grocery Industry
has intrinsic integrity codes, I believe that this shift have been driven in a
greater extent by the mentioned tendency of customers.
As I analyze the industry and this topic in particular, I would like to find
out why are people moving towards green zones at a higher rate in the past
decade. Furthermore, it intrigued me that the demand for socially-responsible products
is concentrated in different demographics as geographical location changes. For
instance, in the UK, young people are the ones that fuel the consumption of green
products, whereas in America and the rest of Europe, the demand is led by older
people. Does it have anything to do with the media or the way this sector of
the industry is marketed?
As the awareness of customers in environmental and ethical topics grows,
also does the number of producer and suppliers of green products. However, it
is considered that the leading influences in this aspect are the consumers and
the media.
The ethic sector of grocery is meant to grow exponentially in the near
future. Let’s look at some of the results of the survey in the report that demonstrate
so:
· Nearly 27% of European consumers and more than
25% in the US bought more socially-responsible groceries in 2006 than the year
before.
·
The pioneering organic sector of fruit and vegetables
still holds over 30% of the market, but faster growth is stemming from other
major sectors such as bakery and cereals and dairy. Movement into added value
areas such as ready meals is evident in the UK and US.
·
More leading food and drink companies are developing
ethical products, signaling movement of ethical food and drinks into the
mainstream. Retailers and ethical specialists are still very active, with
private label featuring as one of the top ten packaging tags for 2007.
·
Food quality, waste and pollution, and food safety are
rated as the most important consumer concerns in driving uptake of ethical food
and drink. The enviromentally good factor of buying ethical products also
features as a factor shaping demand.
For further information on the survey and the report click on the link bellow.
After reading you blog post i began to wonder why this shift in consumer mentality would be happening now. I say this because as of the past few years our economy has been in a recession and therefor you would think that consumers would be looking for product that are cheaper. As we all know organic products tend to be more expensive! So although i am all for healthier and organic products the question of "why is this happening now" is very intriguing to me.
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ReplyDeleteYes I know, It kind of contradicts what I thought as well. with lower incomes during the crisis, people, we would think, are likely to move towards cheap/fast food as Bea discussed in her post. However, people are buying the more expensive and healthier option. I think it is due to the marketing process. There is a huge educational campaign taken forth by the "green companies". It is big enough as to cancel the "low income effect" in our buying habits and push us towards green food. Rare tendency, but it is an example of how effective a well developed marketing plan can be.
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