Communicating sustainability to customers
Attending the Food Innovation day at Leatherhead Food Research 12 May was eye-opening in several ways, particularly considering the communication of sustainability. It is naturally a term that is bantered about in the confectionery and wider food industry very frequently and companies are having to spend a lot of time and resources on sustainability reports. However, the initial presentation of the day showed us how little of that effort is communicated effectively and understood by consumers.
One particular study aimed to investigate consumers’ attitudes to sustainability and a considerable proportion confused the word with the term satiety and quoted ‘slow-release energy’ and ‘feeling fuller for longer’ when asked what they thought of when considering the term sustainability.
We were also shown how both the Coca-Cola and M&S sustainability website and logos had consumers scratching their heads when the company names were taken off the images. They didn’t even know who the companies were.
So however clear sustainability seems to us in the manufacturing and supplying sectors, we have to be better and clearer when communicating these aspects of our businesses, which do have the potential to make a difference to consumers’ perception of you – if they know who you are, that is.
All the best,
Katrine Kjoeller
Editor
Confectionery Production
[email protected]
