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| Green or greenwash: the thin line |
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HOW far should a
company go in making green sourcing claims, if it is not able to ensure that
every ingredient and production process is as green as can be?
Indeed, the term greenwashing has entered common parlance to describe unfounded or irrelevant environmental credentials highlighted for a company or product. When sustainability is over-egged through ignorance or over-enthusiasm, it actually risks damaging trust in the brand.
But food products are made up of any number of ingredients. Should a company and its suppliers be able to trace every single one of these back to a sustainable source, in order for the product to make sustainability claims?
Solitaire Townsend, chief executive of Futerra, a UK-based sustainability communications agency, says it is almost impossible to get 100 per cent sustainable, ethical, fair trade or organic ingredients into a product.
She believes if the main element of a foodstuff is sustainably and ethically sourced – and is third-party accredited – it is fine to talk about it on product packs and marketing materials.
An example of this would be the cocoa in a chocolate bar or in a chocolate cake.
If the product is a chilli source, on the other hand, and the chocolate is one tiny part of the formulation, then the chocolate’s sustainable credentials have no place on the pack or in marketing materials that influence purchasing decisions.
They may, however, be listed on support materials that do not influence decisions, such as on a website, in the interests of transparency.
The same applies to companies in the business-to-business sphere.
