Green Grocers study: Waitrose leads

Since food is responsible for 31 % of the average European household’s impact on climate change (and, according to the research organisation IGD, 72 % of grocery sales took place in supermarkets in 2006), retailers have a huge potential to help customers make greener choices. The aim of a supermarket survey called “Green Grocers” conducted by the NCC (National Consumer Council) in April 2007 was to find out if the top eight supermarkets in Great Britain had improved their green practices.

Picture: A Waitrose Store in London

The NCC chose certain indicators to give an overall rating to the supermarkets. The indicators were: the reduction of CO2 emissions by selling seasonal food and providing  information on seasonality; the action taken to reduce, re-use and recycle waste; the support for sustainable fishing and for sustainable farming. Regarding sustainable food, the provision and promotion of organic options were evaluated as well as the promotion of produce from certified farming methods that use fewer chemicals and encourage biodiversity.

There were some good examples of supermarkets leading the way into a greener future, like the M & S “Plan A”, which was launched in January 2007. This five-year plan holds the retailer to account on 100 green targets. Tesco made some climate change announcements in January 2007 and Morrisons revealed new commitments and targets for 2007 in its corporate social responsibility report in April. And Sainsbury’s has also produced a corporate responsibility report for 2007.

In the overall ratings in 2007, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose got the top scores, a “B”, followed by Asda and Tesco with a “C”, and Co-op, Morrisons and Somerfield with a “D”. The retailer ratings for sustainable farming were as follows: Waitrose was rated with an “A”, Marks & Spencer and Tesco with a “B”, Asda and Sainsbury’s with a “C”, and Co-op, Morrisons and Somerfield with a “D”. There was little progress to be seen in the case of most supermarkets, the exceptions being Waitrose, Tesco and Asda.

The overall results showed that there was minimal choice when it came to organic options in most categories and in most stores. The pattern was usually one of abundant choice in the non-organic varieties, and one or two organic options that were rarely on price promotion. In the bread and tea categories, for example, some stores had a choice of organic options, but they were swamped by the huge variety of flavours, sizes and other options which attracted the customers’ attention. But at least this year the availability and promotion of sustainable fish has improved across all the supermarkets.

There was little promotion of the nutritional or environmental benefits of organic farming, even less than in 2006. Nevertheless, there were some good examples: Morrisons displayed all its organic fruit and vegetables with a sign “fruit and vegetables grown without using artificial fertilisers”, and organic food was promoted as the healthier choice.

At ASDA, more than 60 % of vegetables were UK-sourced. The number of organic lines increased from 10 % to 18 % in 2007, but more should be done to promote the issue of organics.

At Co-op, the proportion of organic lines fell from 13 % to 9 % in 2007. Only a few organic products were on sale in each store; the vast majority of products available were non-organic.

At M & S, the majority of fish products carried sustainability information and statements of the company’s commitment to stock fish from well managed fisheries. The website supplied excellent information about sustainable fish. The proportion of organic products was almost the same as last year (2006: 16 %, 2007: 15.5 %). There were more organic products available in some categories, like bread and tea, but in others, like lettuce and potatoes, there were fewer.

Morrison’s level of organic produce dropped from 11 % to 9 %. There were no organic options in several categories, such as pears and tea.

Sainsbury’s was in the lead regarding the sale of organic products in 2006 and it had a good reputation for promoting them. It is disappointing, therefore, to see that this company has reduced its organic options in key categories from 21 % to 12 %.

Somerfield had the lowest number of organic lines in the survey. But the figure has increased from 4 % to 7 %, which shows at least some progress.

Tesco has increased its number of organic lines from 16 % to 20 %, with an improvement across almost the whole range.

Waitrose took the lead in the products surveyed, and has increased the number of organic certified products in its stores - the quantity of organic and LEAF-Marque certified products increased from 19 % to 23 % last year. Waitrose’s range consists of over 2,000 organic lines.

Many retailers told NCC that they aimed to increase their sales of organic food. M&S stated that it intends to triple its sales, Sainsbury’s said it wanted increase them by 20 %, and Morrisons wanted to increase organic sales by 40 %. Co-op said that it had a clear strategy for increasing its focus on organic products, and Asda reported that it was Britain’s fastest growing organic retailer and had more than doubled its range over the last eighteen months. The company’s target is 1,000 organic products by the end of 2007.

http://www.ncc.org.uk