in
üi
It is a necessity that producers of consumer products
get involved in sustainable development initiatives, and
communicate it. But we are still in the early stages
o o
SUSTAINABILITY
Valentin Drillon, Beverages Sector Marketing Manager, Carrefour
Seeineken
HA m
A/fichage envronnemental
Hvw una «n aouMDI* <M
la proeucDen la contonnitaac
da 25 d
O REP»
aOSSAK
Product details, such as C02 emissions
and the use of natural resources at each
stage of the life cycle, are available
online and via smartphones
Following benchmarking against PepsiCo,
Coca-Cola and Weleda, the French
team decided on the best method of
communicating this data. Along with the
shelf cards and mobile information page,
a subsection of www.heinekenfrance.fr is
now dedicated to the communication of
environmental labelling, aided by a pop
up window on the home page for extra
visibility. "A deliberate decision was made
not to include the information directly
on the product packaging," explains
Anne Ollivier, Communications CSR
Officer. "This would require a change in our
production process, generating even more
greenhouse gases, which is contrary to the
purpose of the trial."
Consumer Choice
A recent survey by CREDOC, the Research
Institute for the Study and Monitoring
of Living Standards, has shown that
information on the environmental impact
of products is becoming increasingly
important in consumer choice. To
seek the opinion of its own consumers
on the subject, HEINEKEN in France
carried out a quick online survey with
three questions relating to the clarity
and relevance of the information, the
importance of environmental labelling as
a purchase criteria, and their interest in, or
requirement for, other indicators.
Some consumers who think that
environmental labelling is a motivating
factor in purchasing a product see future
added value, with one commenting:
"Ultimately this will stimulate companies
to make better choices in terms of place
and methods of production, packaging
selected raw materials." Other consumers
believe that reporting the carbon footprint
should just be the start: "It would also be
appropriate to consider biodiversity, but
the problem would be to define a measure
of this at such an early stage."
"September marked the launch of the trial,
which will last until June 2012, so it's still
too early to measure consumer impact,"
Laurent concludes. "All online material has
been available since the launch, and the
shelf cards are currently in place in more
than 250 Carrefour stores. Although this
is a trial, we see the project as the first
step in a successful strategy for promoting
sustainability. We will be carefully
monitoring media coverage and are not
excluding the possibility of extending the
approach across our whole portfolio at the
end of the test stage." K
12 World of H EINEKEN Quarter 1 2012
