The National Consumer Council, energywatch and Postwatch are joining to form Consumer Voice – a single body that will provide consumers with a point of contact for dealing with consumer issues. Legislation will be needed to bring about Consumer Voice, but the DTI intends to “bring this before parliament as soon as possible”.
Contact; Department of Trade and Industry
020 7215 5000 www.dti.gov.uk
Ethical fish
J Sainsbury said it will stop stocking endangered fish species by the end of December as part of its colour-coded scheme, which gives fish a green, amber or red code depending on the level of risk of endangerment.
The retailer also offers products that have been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which recognises well-managed fisheries and certifies them via labels.
Sainsbury’s no longer sells skate and huss and MSC-approved South African hake and Alaskan pollock will replace endangered white fish in ready meals.
Levi Strauss will include 100% organic jeans in its 2006 product line. Buttons will be made of coconut and non-galvanised metal, standard rivets will be replaced with reinforced stitching and natural dyes will be used to minimise the impact of the jeans on the environment.
Additional organic products will be available in 2007. All packaging will be organic or recycled and will be printed with soy-based ink. Levi Strauss Europe has also been awared an EKO Sustainable Textile certification from Control Union Certifications, an inspection and certification body for organic production and products.
Contact; Paola Brandi, Levi’s Europe 0032 2 641 6327 www.levi.com
Greening supermarkets
Supermarkets must make green shopping easier for people, according to Greening Supermarkets: How supermarkets can help make greener shopping easier by the National Consumer Council (NCC). The NCC wants the retailers to make “environmentally-friendly products the norm, not just a niche markets for dedicated green shoppers”. All the supermarkets polled – Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Asda, Co-op, Tesco, Somerfield and Morrisons – recognised their role in combating global warming and some of the companies had targets for the next few years. But the report concluded that there should be “more ambition, more clarity in companies’ targets”.
The stores were rated on food transport, waste, fish supply chains, attitude towards forestation and sustainable farming. Waitrose was rated best with a B score. Sainsbury’s and M&S both received a C, Asda, Co-op and Tesco and D and Somerfield and Morrisons an E.
Contact; Sue Dibb, National Consumer Council 020 7730 3469 www.ncc.org.uk
Ethical shopping
Research shows that the spending on ethical food products could hit £2bn this year. The research, carried out by analysts Mintel, indicates that spending on Fairtrade, free-range and organic products has increased by 62% since 2002. The report, Attitudes Towards Ethical Foods – UK, predicts that Fairtrade products will experience a 138% growth in the next 5 years. More than one third of consumers now buy Fairtrade. Mintel went on to say that 70 new products were launched in Britain last year, up from 25 in 2002. Supermarket reports support the research. Tesco has seen a 30% increase in organic food sales and around 15% of Sainsbury’s milk sales are organic. Leading figures in the organic movement are worried that the market will become ‘industrialised’ and that producers will lower standards to meet demand. There have already been shortages in organic beef and milk with supermarkets allegedly flying the produce in from as far a field as Argentina. However, the amount spent on ethical products is still small in relation to spending on other food products.
Contact; The Mintel Information Team 020 7606 6000 www.mintel.com
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