July 16, 2021
Unilever is set to introduce carbon footprint labels on its products by the end of the year – marking a key moment in the shift to badge products with their cost to the planet. The giant company which has 75,000 products including Magnum ice-cream, Pot Noodle, Marmite, and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, is going to measure the carbon footprint of 30,000 of these products within six months, with carbon footprint labels on a select range by the end of 2021.
Unilever said it plans to badge its entire product range over the next two to five years and also floated the idea of supermarkets creating “carbon-neutral or carbon-friendly” aisles, just like they have ”vegetarian aisles”, to help consumers make greener choices.
It is the first move by a global player to introduce carbon footprint labelling and could shake up supply chains in the food and drinks industry, causing other companies to fall in line or accelerate their plans.
Creating a simple and consistent method of labelling would ensure that all shops and manufacturers give us the same kind of information about our food. Having to record information about the environmental impact of food production could also influence the way that manufacturers make their products.
Unilever claims that it is halfway to ‘knowing’ the carbon footprint of its product and now is the moment to begin ‘showing’. As carbon labels will play an important role in helping everyone live lower carbon lifestyles, but trust in a label is essential and that means the data supporting it needs to be robust.
The label itself is contentious and different forms have been floated: either an exact footprint measure stated as a CO2e value – though critics say this could be hard for the public to grasp – or a simpler traffic-light system. The further question – as to whether the label should calculate only carbon emissions or take in wider environmental issues such as biodiversity and water usage – also divides the room. A single, universal approach to labelling is critical to enabling the public to compare products across different brands. A proliferation of labels would not be helpful.”
Unilever is “spending millions on focus groups and consumer feedback” before settling on what form its labels will take.
In contrast, food giant Nestle, which has over 2,000 brands in 186 countries, said that to focus exclusively on carbon emissions would be a mistake. One shouldn’t only use labels to drive down carbon emissions and forget about biodiversity and animal welfare. It’s in all our interests to have an industrywide, harmonized approach to labelling led by science and adopted across the globe.
Today, a decade later and with climate change rising sharply up the public’s agenda, consumers appear hungry for information