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Sustainability: The mantra for retailers and consumers

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The search for sustainable products was the subject of a study by the International Trade Center, with funding from the European Commission Directorate General for Commerce. This is a sector that, in 2018, sold over 40.7 billion euros in the European Union.

(FiBL Statistics, 2020)

The study focused on eight retail product groups: food, beverages, clothing, computers, furniture, mobile phones, printed materials, and toys and games.
 
The results show that:

      • The groups with the highest growth in sales of sustainable products between 2016-2017 were: food, toys and games, and mobile phones.
      • The most used certifications are organic product and FairTrade.
      • The main markets for sustainable products are Germany and France.

    To improve the supply of sustainable products to consumers, the study recommends 12 measures to be implemented by retailers, suppliers and policymakers: 

    Retailers

        • Integrate sustainability into the business. Being proactive rather than reactive in anticipating the needs of tomorrow’s consumers is key.
        • Going beyond supplying certified products: circular economy principles in value chains must be implemented.
        • Share experience and information with other retailers and manufacturers on sustainability issues and solutions found in supplying countries.
        • Collaborate with non-governmental organizations to seek advice on sustainability issues in supplier countries.
        • Educating consumers to understand and act sustainably. Retailers have a deep understanding of consumer behavior and are best placed to influence consumers to act sustainably. 

      Suppliers

          • Actively implement sustainable practices in production processes.
          • Collaborate with buyers and share information. Transparency in supplier relationships is a key factor in maintaining long-term supplier-buyer partnerships.
          • Listen to your customers and their preferences for fair and ethical pricing. These preferences can vary across product types and market segments and therefore cannot be ignored.
         Policymakers

            • Encourage the import of sustainable products into the European Union through lower price trade policies or provide benefits for companies that import sustainable products.
            • Collaborate with exporting governments to promote sustainability within these countries at the national level.
            • Create a favorable environment for companies to produce sustainably and link to markets that show a high demand for sustainable products.
            • Educate consumers to better understand and act towards sustainability. This can be done at municipal, regional and national levels through awareness campaigns.

          Reference

          FiBL Statistics (2020). Markets and trade. (accessed on June 17th, 2020).

          International Trade Centre (2019). The European Union Market for Sustainable Products. The retail perspective on sourcing policies and consumer demand. ITC, Geneva.