Growing consumer demand for green labels

Food shoppers are increasingly looking for environmental logos on products and more than half say they trust green claims, reveals packaging firm Tetra Pak

Almost two-thirds of the 7,000 consumers polled by Tetra Pak say they regularly look for environmental information on drinks packaging, while 37% specifically look for logos confirming a product's green credentials.

The Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) logo was the most recognised, with 20% of respondents identifying it and associating it with sustainable forestry.

The findings also confirm that consumers are increasingly confident of companies' green claims, with 54% saying they trust environmental labels, compared with 37% in 2011.

"The findings of this year's report reinforce the importance of putting environment at the heart of our strategic agenda," said Dennis Jönsson, Tetra Pak's president.

Tetra Pak conducts a global survey of consumers and representatives from the food sector on attitudes towards the environmental impacts of products and packaging every two years.

Since 2005, the proportion of consumers confirming that they look for environmental information has risen from 30% to 65%. Meanwhile, the number claiming to have avoided a product or brand due to environmental concerns has increased to 62% from 40%.

Of those polled this year, 64% say they have purchased an environmentally friendly product over the past 12 months despite it costing more, and 75% confirm they have bought products with environmentally friendly packaging.

The research also asks representatives from the food sector about the most important environmental trends in terms of drinks packaging. The results confirm that the importance of renewable materials, particularly bio-based plastic and sustainably sourced paper, is rising.

The value of materials when they are recycled is a key factor in determining future packaging designs says respondents, whereas compostability is predicted to be less important in future.