Photo by Kevin Grieve on Unsplash
Estelle Alley, Retail Trade Marketing Specialist GB, London Office, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
Packaging has come under increased scrutiny in both retail and foodservice in recent months. IGD reports that packaging has now been highlighted as a key concern among shoppers in the UK. When shoppers were asked “when choosing food and groceries in a supermarket, how important or not important are each of the following to you?” 41% of them said that they are concerned about the amount of packaging, compared with 35% last year. (Source: IGD ShopperVista Research, February 2019).
Shoppers are looking to make more conscientious choices and operators are looking for ways to make their businesses more sustainable. Many of the UK Retailers are taking this shopper concern on board. Over the past six months we have seen Morrisons, Tesco and Marks & Spencer introduce and trial plastic free products in their stores. Most recently, after a successful plastic-free trial Morrisons will now roll out the concept to many of its stores. The trial took place over ten months in three stores and saw shoppers buy on average 40% more loose fruit and vegetables. The retailer has also committed to making all its private label products recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. Similarly, Iceland was the first UK Retailer back in January 2018 to commit to eliminating plastic packaging from its 1,400 private label products by 2023.
The demand for more sustainable packing links in with Bord Bia’s Consumer Lifestyle Trend of Responsible Living. This ‘Responsible Living’ consumer wants to have a positive impact on their society and the environment, and take pride in living in a sustainable way. In the future, for the benefit of the economies and lives involved in and impacted by its supply chain, successful businesses will have to become investors and service partners in alternatives to plastics. They need to continue to invest and innovate creating alternative packs, or even products that require fewer materials, and sees opportunity in the waste of others.
Moving away from the UK market, a news feature from New Zealand focused on the fact that across multiple retailers in the country, consumers will now be allowed to bring containers from home for their deli product purchases such as fresh meat, fish, and in store bakery products. These deli categories are renowned for being packaging and plastic heavy. Shoppers containers’ will be pre weighed before the product is put in and therefore the shopper is charged only for the product they are buying with no packaging waste.
In the UK retailers are yet to initiate this concept, but food service operators have; as well as getting a small percentage discount on bringing your own keep cup for your daily coffee hit, lunch goers now will also get a discount if they bring their own counter for deli salads in London based eateries such as Detox Kitchen and Coco di Mama.
In line with the Responsibility Living trend, the Bord Bia GB office are facilitating a Market Study Visit in London on Tuesday 11th June 2019 with a focus on packaging. The MSV will explore the world of packaging and clean labelling in the UK retail and foodservice market. The visit will allow participants to gain first-hand experience of the UK market in order to see how UK retail and foodservice outlets are catering to the growing consumer demand for more sustainable packaging, as well as identifying examples of effective clean labelling both on products and menus. Participants will also be able to explore the marketing and sales environment across channels in the UK market, as well as receiving an insight session on Bord Bia’s latest packaging and clean label trends.
To register, please contact Estelle Alley or Alison Ryan in the London office at Estelle.alley@bordbia.ie or Alison.ryan@bordbia.ie