Eco Actives are worth $446 billion to the FMCG industry - and they’re set to represent half the population by the end of the decade. Let’s explore their shopping behaviour and see the brands winning with this group.
We have explored the motivations and barriers to being sustainable. Eco Actives are more likely to believe that ‘buying sustainable products shows others who I am and what I believe in.’ 70% of Eco Actives would agree with this, compared with just 26% of Eco Dismissers. And Eco Actives feel they can make a difference to the world around them through the actions they take (80%, versus the Eco Dismissers’ 39%).
The barriers to being sustainable did not differ much between the segments. Around 60% of the population want to be more environmentally friendly but find it difficult because sustainable products are harder to find or more expensive. Approximately one in three shoppers said that they try to buy sustainable products, but that they get distracted.
Over two-thirds of shoppers have switched to comparable products that have a positive impact on the environment. This rises to 85% with Eco Actives, with 48% who have done it frequently. Brands that are recognised by sustainable shoppers will see a sales benefit.
We looked at the top 10 brands that over-index with Eco Actives in Thailand, Spain, Great Britain and Brazil. And in each market, these brands saw double-digit growth, performing better than the FMCG industry as a whole and growing between four to seven times quicker than the brand average.
We asked shoppers to name FMCG brands that do a lot for the environment and brands that help society. We found that 41% of shoppers can name a brand that does a lot for the environment compared with just 28% of shoppers that can name doing a lot for society.
Nestlé tops the list of global brands that shoppers perceive to be doing a lot for the environment, followed by Coca-Cola, Natura (also 3rd in the society Top 10), Almarai, Ecover and Yves Rocher.
Approximately one-third of the top 10 brands across markets are 'born-sustainable’, i.e. have always held a sustainable message, with 41% being global brands and 26% being local brands. Additionally, 60% of the brands identified were from the Homecare and Personal care sectors, which is disproportionately high given that Food and Beverages account for over 70% of FMCG spend.
Case Study Tony’s Chocolonely
Tony’s Chocolonely, a B-Corp and Fairtrade-certified company, was founded in the Netherlands in 2005 by three journalists from the Dutch TV show ‘Keuringdienst van Waarde’. They discovered that the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers were buying cocoa from plantations that used illegal child labour and modern slavery, and felt compelled to act. And so Tony’s Chocolonely was born.
The brand’s mission is to make chocolate 100% slave free, not just within their own company, but all chocolate worldwide.
These credentials resonate with Eco Actives, with a brand penetration 38% higher amongst this group than with the average shopper. But the brand isn't winning just with this segment. Seen as good for the environment and society, the brand penetration across all segments is growing at 220%.
Source: https://tonyschocolonely.com/ and Kantar UK
For this year’s study we asked, ‘Which of the following shape your behaviour regarding the environment and society?’. We found some significant differences by region.
In Europe, product packaging was the top influence, followed by family. In both Asia and Latin America, social media came out highest, with product packaging lower down the list.
Given the importance of product packaging, we also asked respondents what sustainability information they regularly look for on product packaging when shopping. The positive is nearly all (93%) of respondents pay attention to some sustainable information on packaging.
Recycling information came out as the information consumers look for most, i.e. if the packaging has been made of recycled material or can be recycled.
However, less than 40% of people are doing this regularly.
We can see a challenge emerging. Packaging may be the thing swaying consumers the most, yet relatively few people are looking for this sustainability information regularly. Why is this?
One reason for the low numbers is that most of this information is seen on the back of pack, which can often be overlooked when shopping.
The practice of labelling on environmental impact is growing amongst brands trying to tap into the Eco Active market. There are now over 400 ecolabelling initiatives within the FMCG industry. Examples include Garnier's Sustainability Index, Nestle's partnership with Foundation Earth, and Lidl's adoption of Eco-Score labelling. To get this right, companies need to consider how they label, bringing more clarity than the symbol-based system we have today.
