Introducing Passport Ethical Labels

Welcome to Euromonitor International’s newest offering, Passport Ethical Labels. 18 months in the making, Passport Ethical Labels is our brand new research database created in response to the growing movement towards sustainability, social responsibility and transparency on labels. It is the first comprehensive quantitative and qualitative, fully transparent system, translating social and ethical concerns into business opportunities.

With its population set to increase by over two billion people by 2050, its climate changing, increasing water scarcity, and developed countries set to generate barely 18% of absolute global growth across packaged food, soft drinks, hot drinks and beauty and personal care over 2015-2020, the world is changing.

Leading market players have already begun the process of putting social and environmental master plans at the heart of their business strategies, with major implications for their sourcing, their product and packaging and their relationships with customers and suppliers. Numerous fmcg companies have created partnerships with certifying bodies, such as Fairtrade, UTZ Certified, and Rainforest Alliance, or have created their own cocoa and coffee sustainability programmes to look after people, the planet and profits.

Measuring performance of 38 labelling schemes across 26 countries and across three platforms (people/values, environment/sustainability and animal welfare), Passport Ethical Labels offers independent and objective insight into the demand for social and environmental trends and has been designed to help businesses open up new revenue streams, especially in mature developed countries, which otherwise face stagnation. The system will address a range of questions, including:

1. How important is a recycling label?
2. What is the market size and growth for clean label? How does that compare to prominent locally sourced claims on packaging?
3. Which sustainability scheme should a company partner with? Fairtrade, UTZ Certified or Rainforest Alliance?
4. Which are the key markets for kosher and halal labels?

Businesses can use Passport Ethical Labels to help with:

1. Strategic planning: Gain deeper insight into what drives the growth of Ethical Labels across key developed markets, by tracking product sales and consumer trends down to brand level. Assess impact on region-specific sourcing and packaging strategies.
2. Selecting business partners: Track winning and losing sustainability schemes and assess against commitments and ethical claims.
3. Prospecting new business growth opportunities: Review company and brand investment in ethical initiatives and see how competitors are conveying this message to consumers.
4. CSR planning: Track Ethical Labels forecasts to 2020 across major companies, based on commodity-driven CSR commitments.

Key Findings:

• At US$793.0 billion, sales of ethically labelled food and drinks researched across 26 countries are already US$67.0 billion greater than global sales of health and wellness food and drinks.
• Recycling, followed by prominently displayed local sourcing, religious label and clean label, clearly lead ethically labelled food and drinks globally.
• At global level, The Coca-Cola Co takes the lead, selling US$73.0 billion worth of products with at least one ethical label. Within this figure, products carrying the widely recycled label are worth US$67.0 billion, those holding the kosher label sell for US$8.0 billion, products with no artificial preservatives sell for US$4.0 billion and products which are locally sourced are worth US$3.0 billion
• With expected growth of 48% (equal to US$5.0 billion) between 2015 and 2020, the from sustainable/renewable sources label will be the most dynamic, followed by halal and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), set to rise by 28% and 23%, respectively.
• Values that resonate with consumers are highly country and product specific. For example, for a chocolate manufacturer in the UK, Fairtrade is the label to invest in, whist for a sugar confectionary player in the US, the kosher label has become a must have, whilst, at the same time, carrying the all natural claim may help a company gain competitive advantage.
• Nestlé takes the lead in clean label products, with an 8% value share, followed fairly closely by PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Unilever.

Passport Ethical Labels will also publish a series of opinions, 26 country overview datagraphics and 5 global reports, providing more in-depth and strategic analysis on key social and environmental trends, helping to put the wealth of data into context. Our first global reports will focus on 1) clean label, and 2) sustainability becoming an integrated part of corporate business strategy.