Product choices
Combining mass brand reach with sustainable positioning
Brands have several strategies available to reduce their environmental footprint and position themselves as sustainable choices in the minds of consumers.
Packaging is the most frequently mentioned area in our study: 64% of respondents indicated a preference for products with packaging that minimises landfill impact. The next most significant purchase driver pertains to ingredients, with natural and local attributes standing out. Meanwhile, concepts like Carbon Neutral and B-Corp certification remain relatively unfamiliar to many people.
Features such as 100% recyclability, refill options, plastic-free materials and the use of recycled components are commonly preferred and widely accessible.
The material composition – such as paper or glass instead of plastic – serves as an immediate visual indicator of sustainability and may also convey notions of quality and premium positioning.
Refills is an area where the once-predicted revolution has not landed yet and radical innovation to infrastructure would be needed. Waste was cut by 14,700 tonnes in 2008, when it was first introduced. However, this also came with a 19% drop in the value of the market.
For refills to reach mass penetration, this kind of regulatory intervention may be needed. There are other pathways, however, and in the UK new brands have led the way with innovative bold solutions, quickly scaled, that resulted in impressive growth and significant progress in sectors such as personal care.
This is the case for Wild, a brand that disrupted the body care category in the UK, built primarily on refillable deodorants. With a clear mission of eliminating the throwaway culture of bathroom products, the brand kept their focus on the key category attributes, like efficacy for deodorants, while adding design to the equation for their lifelong applicators. Sustainable choices were made frictionless through convenient and desirable products. Price was less of a barrier, as despite its premium positioning, the buyers base grew by 55% in just one year.
Local and natural ingredients are strong drivers of consumer choice, offering brands many opportunities to tell richer stories around themes like living wages and biodiversity. To have real impact, these elements need to be embedded in the brand identity and clearly communicated. Natura, a well-known Brazilian brand, proves that having sustainable ingredients embedded into a brand identity do payoff.
The brand, which makes its products with natural and sustainably sourced local ingredients from the Amazon forest, has long been a pioneer in responsible business. It was the first publicly traded company to receive B Corp certification in 2014, has been a member of the Union for Ethical bio trade since 2007, has been certified cruelty-free since 2006, and has now reached 86.2% of its packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable.
Our data shows the pay back – Natura pursues its growing trajectory sustainably, holding a premium position in a world where premium brands face slowdowns due to political and economic uncertainty. Its engagement with Eco-Actives also remains high.
Global brands are often blamed for taking control away from local people, but PepsiCo’s collaboration with plantain farmers in Belén de Umbría, Colombia, proves that doesn’t have to be the case.
The company’s Natuchips brand supports more than 50 female heads of household, including displaced individuals, and it has also backed the foundation of a National Agropecuary Association of Plantain Producers.
PepsiCo is now the municipality's second-largest employer (after the local government), providing stable jobs, education and leadership opportunities in marginalized communities.
It promoted the product using authentic storytelling, featuring real farmers in its promotions to make sustainability relatable. In highlighting Natuchips as “products from real hands”, the company connects global branding with local authenticity.
The brand saw 16% value growth year on year, with 42% of brand value share driven by Eco-Actives, compared with 27% for the total market (index 156).
