French retailer Carrefour is testing a new labelling system on its products to inform customers of the environmental impact of the product.
The Eco-score will be displayed on all food products sold under national and private-label brands.
Eco-Score
The Eco-score system has been designed by a group of independent players in the field of consumer product information, such as Yuka, Open Food Facts, Eco2 initiative.
It is open to the public and has been adopted by Carrefour without the need for modification.
The score analyses the life cycle of a product and is then able to draw conclusions on its environmental impact.
The methodology is based on the list of 15 indicators in the Agribalyse database established by the ADEME (Agencie De La Transition Ecologique).
This list is then completed by a bonus/malus system taking into account other complementary factors, such as organic origin, geographical origin, transport, packaging, among others.
Similarly to Nutri-Score, all food products are rated from A to E, with the label displayed on the packaging.
In March of this year, Belgian retailer Colruyt introduced the Eco-Score feature to its Boni Selection range via its SmartWithFood app.
Raising Awareness
Carrefour hopes the indicator will be helpful for customers choosing which products they consume on a daily basis.
This awareness-raising approach allows everyone to choose products that have a lesser impact on the environment, including products from France, in bulk or with recyclable packaging, labelled products (organic, Label Rouge), or items that limit overfishing, deforestation, etc.
For example, a Carrefour wholemeal bread SKU, made with French wheat flour in a single partially recyclable packaging obtained a score of 88/100 and classified as A on Eco-score.
On the other hand, ham, made from European pork, with two packages, earned an E grade.
Customer Feedback
This experiment will allow Carrefour to analyse customer feedback and their expectations to highlight potential improvements in the calculation methodology.
The retailer hopes that other brands will join this movement by also displaying the Eco-score on their products.
In October of this year, the group plans to make the results of this experiment public.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Conor Farrelly. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
