The chief executive of IGD, Susan Barratt, has called on the retail sector to work together to promote sustainable shopping, particularly during a period of increased costs for consumers.
“Shoppers are having a hard time of it right now," Barratt said during a speech at ShopTalk Europe, which is taking place in London this week. "We know from our ShopperVista data that sustainability is an important topic to shoppers, but the cost-of-living crisis is already impacting the trade-offs between affordability and sustainable shopping.
“While we can see this shift in behaviours starting to take effect, it’s still early enough in the day for industry to really engage on the issue and take steps to show shoppers that sustainable shopping doesn’t have to come at a price premium."
Seeking Value For Money
With 40% of shoppers forecast to be facing some degree of food poverty by the end of the year, IGD anticipates shoppers will be focusing more on value for money in the coming months over shopping sustainably.
This in turn presents an opportunity for the industry to "lead" on sustainability, Barratt explained.
"IGD’s collaborative programmes are proving that industry can help consumers make informed choices and reduce costs for business and consumers, so we encourage businesses to join us in this work to make sustainable shopping a way of life for shoppers," she said.
IGD added that it is focused on mobilising the industry to tackle climate change, reduce food waste, increase food surplus redistribution and develop sustainable packaging systems, to work towards its ambition of accelerating progress towards a sustainable food system.
ShopTalk Europe runs from 6 to 8 June at ExCel London.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
