Is consumers’ perception of sustainability shifting as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak?

Julian Mellentin is the founder of New Nutrition Business, expert consultancy services to ingredient and branded product companies on all aspects related to nutrition and health since 1995.

Julian Mellentin, Founder, New Nutrition Business

“Many companies have prioritised sustainability over health and nutrition in recent years. Some wonder whether they can do both sustainability and health. The answer is that you have no choice but to do both – and also to deliver on food hygiene and safety.”

“Consumers will be prioritising health and hygiene for a while and that in the next 12 months is where the focus of your efforts should be. But for the longer term sustainability is an unavoidable must-do and should be equal on your agenda, if not now, then certainly 18 months from now. If today you prioritise it above hygiene and health, you are not aligning yourself with most consumers’ priorities and you may come to regret such a decision.”

“Covid-19 has mostly accelerated trends that were already there. For example, from direct-to-consumer (D2C) business to the growing consumer interest in provenance and more local products and ingredients, this change has been gathering pace since about 2008. Even the biggest companies have embraced it, with giants like Danone marketing products with locally-sourced ingredients, such as its Fruits d’Ici (translation: Fruits from here) yoghurt brand. For many consumers locally-sourced – or some other clear provenance – means sustainable and a ‘provenance’ strategy is one way to deliver sustainability now and also address consumer concerns.”

“Everyone who cares about the environment wants to see an end to disposable coffee cups – and more people were taking their own refillable mugs to the coffee shop. But in early March, as coronavirus was gaining momentum, Starbucks suspended the use of personal cups and tumblers at its stores around the world to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. And thus we were reminded that safety

and protection are two of the functions of consumer goods packaging. Getting rid of it to save the planet may not be as easy as we think. Consumers want less plastic packaging – but they also want to feel secure. For the next 18 months many people (maybe most) will prioritise the second over the first.”

“Many retailers have already taken swift action to eliminate the contamination risks that they and consumers see in self-serve. For example, in the US, Stop & Shop has eliminated all self-serve stations. My Mochi Ice Cream, America’s biggest brand of Japanese-style ice cream, has launched single-serve ice cream balls ‘packaged individually for optimal quality and freshness, while ensuring food safety’. The new plastic, single-serve pack will appear in what was the self-serve freezer, where the company previously retailed unpackaged ice cream balls for consumers to selfselect with tongs.”

Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mymo-mochi-ice-cream-introduces-individual-singleserve-packs-in-retailers-nationwide-301043894.html

“Post-crisis, some retailers and manufacturers may have to think about additional or different protective packaging products. While still keen to lessen the environmental impact of packaging, some consumers will put personal health first. Rather than do-it-yourself, bring-your-own container programs, we may instead see the application in many categories of containers – just as glass milk bottles have long been used for home delivery reusable - that are supplied by the retailer or the brand-owner, returned by the consumers and sanitised for reuse by the vendor.”

“A replacement for plastic will need to provide the same security and shelf-life as plastic – while also scoring well on sustainability. In premium markets there has already been a small shift back towards glass (in liquid milk for example) and we can expect that to continue. In the mass market plastics – even single-use plastic cups – with their re-assuring sense of protection will continue to hold sway for some time yet.”

“Perhaps it will be the perfect opportunity for companies to invest in packaging innovation (recycled, biodegradable, plant-based plastic, carton, etc…) since consumers want safety and having a sustainability/novelty angle will be a plus for a segment of consumers.”

“Consumers’ attitude to food safety has changed with the COVID-19 outbreak - playing things safe with familiar brands rather than taking a risk on new things, packaged rather than loose goods. Recently, safety was not an opportunity in developed markets, since consumers simply took is as a ‘given’ – a guaranteed, unthought-of aspect of their food supply – from the 1930s onwards. But in Asia (and particularly China, where there is a long history of food safety scandals, and little faith in domestically produced food) safety was always an important consumer reassurance and selling point.”

“In the West a small but not insignificant percentage of consumers will be paying more attention to safety. Transparency in the supply chain - communicating where you source your ingredients, from, whom you source them, where you make your products – was an existing trend which will become more valuable for consumers.”

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