Conscious Consumers Market Report 2014-2016

Conscious Consumer Market Report 2014-2016

WHY? You vote with your money – whether you like it or not The Conscious Consumer Market Report quantifies the value of the decisions consumers make day by day, through which they vote for a more sustainable, just and fair world.

The Report provides an estimate of the market value of conscious consumers’ choices in euro. We hope that these numbers and trends will encourage businesses to integrate sustainability and corporate responsibility into their core activities, and help the relentless efforts of civil society organisations and researchers working for sustainability.

In Hungary, more than nine million people make consumer decisions every day or at least every week.

This is an enormous force. If only a part – hopefully an ever-growing part – of these decisions was made in an ethically and environmentally conscious way, and if we used our money in a conscious manner when choosing products or services, we could have already taken significant steps on the path leading to sustainability and a better world.

e result of The report is th n of three the cooperatio e Association organisations: th onsumers of Conscious C working (ACC), actively ethical for sustainable, nce 2002, the consumption si ted bank of first value orien et Bank, and Hungary, MagN arch company the market rese GfK.

WHAT AND HOW? From eggs to photovoltaic panels What the Report does not contain We examined four fields that have the most significant The Conscious Consumer Market Report is being published for environmental impact on our lifestyle: food consumption, household the first time in 2017 in Hungary, and we are convinced that the maintenance, transport and leisure. Additionally we estimated the size of the market surpasses the values presented. One of the value of value-based finances and boycotts. Within the field of reasons for this is that the first year of publication has been the food, we measured the turnover of organic and fairtrade products, year of testing and refining the methods, thus, we have not yet free-range chicken and eggs, farmers’ markets and community found any solution or funding for measuring several consumption supported agriculture. As concerns transport and leisure, we areas. Consequently, eco labelled products, which constitute summed up the money spent on biking, electric cars, a significant and growing market according to our public transport and eco-tourism. The household estimates, as well as organic and natural cosmetics, spending on energy efficient household products of sustainable fishing and forestry, and The last three appliances, photovoltaic panel investments the majority of household investments into and repair services are also included in our energy efficiency and renewable energy years report. The two main indicators of finances are missing from the report. It is also The data shows the total were the amount of money deposited important to note that, even though reuse of three years of consumption with value-based banks and the amount and recycling is an important element data: 2014-2016.

We endeavoured of money kept in sustainability oriented of sustainable consumption, our report to include in our assessment investment funds. Apart from this we provides data only about the primary every consumer decision that also measured the value of boycotts: market, due to methodological reasons. the amount that consumers spent For instance, we were not able to estimate decreases the ecological footprint somewhere else because they had been the amount of money spent on secondof our lifestyle or that contributes dissatisfied with the environmental and hand clothes, bicycles or furniture. In to social sustainability, social performance of a product, service other cases, for example concerns about independently of the or a company. renewable electricity consumption, we intention behind any had no access to adequate data. Also, due such decision.

Methods to methodological reasons, we only estimated We used several methods and methodologies the value of boycotts for one year before the to combine partial data sets to assess the publication of the report. different consumption areas. Some indicators are based on market research measurements, others were from data provided by the main market actors, and some numbers were gathered from European or Hungarian statistical reports; in certain cases we came up with the estimates based on partial data accessible from different sources.

AND THE TOTALS ARE...

Between 2014 and 2016, the value of conscious consumer decisions was of 3

354 million euros.

This included HUF 1198 million euros for food, 763 million euros for household maintenance, 1 114 million euros for transport and leisure, and 279 million euros for finances. On top of this, the estimated value of boycotts in the previous 12 months before April 2017 was about 430 million euros – 17% of the adult population, more than 1.2 million people, boycotted products and services for ethical reasons.

The report shows that more and more consumers choose sustainable, responsible solutions – the amount of money spent on sustainable consumption is growing dynamically in almost every segment.

The two largest slices of the 3 354 million cake are the turnover of farmers’ and organic markets (1113 million) and public transport (796 million). While the environmental advantage of public transport compared to individual solutions is evident, typical markets reflect sustainability less and less. Besides the flourishing of local and artisanal markets, the typical markets today will often have non-seasonal, industrially produced and globally transported foodstuffs – unfortunately we do not have a method to filter these products out of the turnover summary.

Nevertheless, it is promising that the contenders of the front runners – energy efficient household appliances (598 million), value oriented banking (264 million) and biking (156 million) – all carry social or environmental added value.

The smallest segments are fairtrade (3.3 million) and community supported agriculture (0.7 million). Although there have been precedents, these possibilities have just become visibly present in Hungary in the last few years.

It is exactly the value of one of the smallest market shares, fairtrade, which grew most between 2014 and 2016. One reason for this nearly seven-fold growth is that the network of ÖMV gas stations started selling fairtrade coffee in mid 2016. The growth

is, however, significant even without the service station coffee sales: 27%. The market for electric cars has more than tripled, most probably because of the improving accessibility of state subsidies and charging stations. The market for organic food and community supported agriculture is also growing dynamically – both have been growing at a rate higher than 50% in the last three years. In the case of organic food, we see that nearly all the big retailers and drugstore chains have increased their processed organic food offerings. This has provided momentum for growth, since consumers tend to do grocery shopping at these chains.

The spectacular growth of community supported agriculture is concentrated around cities, but one of the main reasons for its growth is that the base value was very low to begin with. The turnover of energy efficient household appliances has grown by 39% in the last three years, which was probably prompted by state subsidies supporting consumers to change their old appliances to new, energy efficient ones. We see the least significant change in the value of sustainability related financial investments – it has grown by 3% throughout the years. With the exception of farmers’ markets and public transport, these two fields showing slightly negative tendencies, we see that every other field of conscious consumption is growing.

FOOD – 1198 million euros In the three years between 2014 and 2016, Hungarian households spent at least 1198 million euros on foodstuff while doing good for the environment, justice and fairness, or their own health.

0.7 million euros Community supported agriculture

3.3 million euros fairtrade

18 million euros Free-range eggs and chicken

The consumers chose fairtrade certified food with a value of 3.3 million euros. Fairtrade guarantees exploitation-free production, providing a predictable and fair living for the farmer, and in some case the wellbeing of farming communities. The value of food sold by community supported agriculture, this means local direct food purchase based on the long-term cooperation between a producer

62.4 million euros organic food

1114 million euros Farmers’ markets and organic markets

and consumers, was at least 0.7 million euros. The free-range and organic farming, which takes into account animal wellbeing, sold chicken meat and eggs with a value of 18 million. Households spent 62.4 million euros on organic food ensuring the protection of the environment and healthy eating. The turnover of farmers’ markets and organic markets was of 1114 million euros.

Choose eggs with code 0 or 1!

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HOUSEHOLD MAINTENANCE – 763 million euros The maintenance of households has one of the most detrimental effects on people’s ecological footprint. Between 2014 and 2016, 763 million euros were spent by Hungarian households in order to decrease this impact.

Photovoltaic panels are cleaner and safer than traditional power plants. A total of 52 million euros were spent on installing photovoltaics panels on roofs. Extending the life expectancy of objects decreases the environmental burden of our lifestyle; 113 million euros were spent on the repair of our household

598 million euros Energy efficient household appliance

113 million euros Repair services

52 million euros Photovoltaic panels

appliances, tools, clothes, shoes, furniture, sport equipment, musical instruments and entertainment tools, thus avoiding turning them into waste. 598 million euros were spent by Hungarian consumers on A+ or higher energy efficiency class refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers.

Transport and Leisure – 1114 million euros Hungarian households spent at least 1114 million euros on sustainable transport and leisure between 2014 and 2016.

At least 27 million euros were spent on leisure activities visiting the wonderful eco touristic highlights of Hungarian national parks, for example on caving, astronomy, cross-country riding, and visiting arboretums, typical rural houses, game parks or animal reserves.

Electric cars generate less air pollution and 135 million euros were

27 million euros Ecotourism

spent on them in the last few years. Cycling is good for health and for the environment; its increasing popularity is shown by the 156 million euros spent on bicycles. Public transport services generate less air pollution per person and were worth 796 million euros to Hungarian consumers.

135 million euros Electric cars

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PARK

156 million euros Bicycles

796 million euros Public transport

FINANCES – 280 million euros Between 2014 and 2016, Hungarian households deposited an average of 280 million euros per year with value-based banks and into investment funds for sustainability.

Hungarian consumers kept a yearly average of 280 million euros with member banks of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV).

In Hungary, only MagNet Bank is member of the Alliance since 2016, having been an observer member previously.

The average value of deposits kept in investment funds for sustainability was 15 million euros. These funds invest in shares or bonds issued by companies in the businesses of renewable energy (wind, solar, water, biomass, and geothermal energy), energy efficiency, water management, countering the detrimental effects of climate change and environment management. Currently there are four such funds in Hungary at three financial institutions.

BANK

265 million euros Value oriented bank deposits

15 million euros Investment funds for sustainability

BOYCOTTS – 430 million euros

17% of the population between 15 and 69, which is more than 1.2 million people, boycotted food, household chemicals, stores or services in the 12 months preceding April 2017. The total value of the boycotts was 430 million euros. This money was either not spent at all or was spent on other products, service providers, in other stores, due to ethical reasons.

THIS IS HOW MUCH WE SPEND Between 2014 and 2016, every single household

Food 289 euros

Finances 67 euros

spent an average of 813 euros on consumer goods and services while contributing to a more sustainable, more responsible world. This is about 4% of all household spending.

Fairtrade 0.5 euros

Photovoltaic panels 19.2 euros

Repair services 27.3 euros

Ecotourism, national parks 66.6 euros

Sustainable investments 3.7 euros

Energy efficient household appliances 144.4 euros

Household maintenance 191 euros

Transport 269 euros

Public transport 192.4 euros Free-range eggs and chicken 4.3 euros

Farmers’ market 269.1 euros

Organic food 15.1 euros

Bicycles 37.7 euros Electric cars 32.5 euros

Value oriented banking 63.8 euros

Community supported agriculture 0.2 euros

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to those who contributed to the Conscious Consumer Market Report by providing data, advice and voluntary work: Rob Harrison (Ethical Consumer Research Association), László Paizs, Ministry of Interior, Energiaklub, Ministry of Agriculture, Hungarian Central Statistical Office, Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority, Hungarian Alliance of Bicycle Industry and Trade (Magyar Kerékpáripari és Kereskedelmi Szövetség), Hungarian Alliance of Free-range Poultry (Magyar Szabadtartásos Baromfitermelők Szövetsége), Green Shop (Zöldbolt), Kristopher Greek.

Have we forgotten something?

Should you wish to contribute to the publication of the Conscious Consumer Market Report in the future by providing data, expert assessment or donations, we kindly ask you to contact the Association of Conscious Consumers (Tudatos Vásárlók Egyesülete) at the following e-mail address: tve@tve.hu.

Publishing information Gulyás Emese: Conscious Consumer Market Report 2014-2016 Publisher: Association of Conscious Consumers Address: 1114 Budapest, Móricz Zs. körtér 3/A fsz. 3.

Phone: (+36) 1 225 8136 www.tudatosvasarlo.hu, www.facebook.com/tudatosvasarlokegyesulete Tax registration number: 18245770-1-43 Bank IBAN account code: HU40 1620 0106 0010 8490 0000 0000 Bank SWIFT: HBWEHUHB ISBN 978-963-88509-7-3 Find the Report on the web at www.tudatosvasarlo.hu/piaci_jelentes – Thank you for sharing!

Editing closed: 10 April 2017.

The professional and methodological background of the Conscious Consumer Market Report was developed with the contribution of GfK and MagNet Bank.