From now on, Carrefour is stocking milk on its shelves for which customers have voted on the production conditions. Following in the footsteps of French consumers, supermarket shoppers in Belgium now also have a say in how a carton of milk is produced.
Carrefour's customers have been able to vote via the concept The Consumer's Brand on the income the dairy farmer should receive, how many months the cows should run outside, where the milk should be produced, what nutrition the cows should receive and whether the packaging should be plastic or cardboard.
The concept makes any additional costs in the chain to the shop transparent to customers from every aspect around the production of the milk - such as origin, how long the cows are grazed, the feeding of the animals and packaging and transport. With their online voice, they were able to control the production conditions of the milk and gain influence on the chain. Some 5,300 Belgian supermarket consumers completed an online questionnaire on the properties of milk at the end of last year. This milk - properly and responsibly formulated by consumers - is now available in 800 Carrefour shops (Hypermarkets, Market, Express and Drive) in Belgium.
Consumers want influence on production chain
The Consumer Brand concept for Belgian and French supermarket consumers is one of the initiatives of consumer participation in the food chain. It shows that consumers want to co-direct and need more influence on production in the fresh food chain.
This is also evident from the survey Democratisation of the food chain by ABN AMRO and GfK among over 1,000 consumers. They were asked late last year about their information needs for pears, mangoes, avocados and bananas. Some 37 per cent want to know what price a grower gets for his products. For consumers aged between 18 and 39, the figure is 50 per cent. Almost a fifth say they would like an option to pay the fruit grower extra for their efforts at their discretion.
More visibility on sustainable
To have more influence on production in the fruit chain, consumers need to have more insight into the conditions under which it is freshly produced. For example, 8 per cent of consumers sometimes use a QR code on packaging to know more about origin and production methods. Other costs associated with sustainable choices and price structure for responsible cultivation should also be made clear. These other costs can be made transparent by explaining the CO2 emissions of production or showing what a product must cost for a living income for farmers and growers.
"More and more consumers are ready for more influence on the prices they pay for their food. Younger generations in particular have a radar for fair and sustainable production. In doing so, however, it is crucial that they understand the production conditions and know the 'hidden costs'," says Rob Morren, sector banker Food at ABN AMRO. "This offers opportunities to reduce the distance between consumer and producer and to design a product chain in a more demand-driven way. In this way, consumer participation can pave the way to more sustainable operations, more stable sales and firmer margins."
The entire report Democratisation of the food chain can be downloaded here.
