What you need to know
As ethical considerations have become increasingly ingrained into food and drink companies’ sourcing policies, ethical certification schemes have successfully become a part of the mainstream shopping basket. Amongst the plethora of ethical labels on the market, ‘free-range’ has been the most successful at doing so, with three quarters of consumers buying free-range labelled goods.
The general rise in ethical sourcing has fostered an expectation amongst the majority of consumers that adequate ethical standards will be met without their having to pay more for them – and half are prepared to boycott goods from a company found to be acting unethically.
Ethics is an emotive subject but whilst the avoidance of tax by big companies has recently sparked coverage in the media, animal welfare, responsible sourcing and worker welfare are ranked much more highly as key attributes of an ethical company by consumers.
Products covered in this report
This report explores UK consumers’ attitudes towards ethical issues in the food and drink supply chain including farming, manufacturing and retailing. It also explores their ethical food and drink shopping behaviour.
The report also encompasses consumers’ attitudes towards selected innovative methods of food production.
The definition of ‘ethical’ in this report is broad, covering for example, but not limited to, animal welfare, environmental welfare and worker welfare, and other such issues that businesses might cover as part of their corporate social responsibility commitments/strategies. Due to the diverse nature of this subject not all areas can be explored within the remit of this report. The broad areas covered include:
Animal welfare in this context refers to the treatment of animals – both wild and farmed – in a responsible manner and which does not cause them unnecessary suffering. It also ensures a good quality of life and humane death
Environmental welfare in this context refers to the responsible use of the earth’s resources so as to safeguard their future use, ensuring for example that ecosystems are not damaged beyond repair through pollution.
Worker welfare in this context refers to the fair treatment of workers. It includes ensuring employees work in a safe environment and that their pay level enables them to afford the basic human necessities such as accommodation, food/water and fuel.
Corporate social responsibility in this context refers to companies acting in a legal and moral manner, ensuring the decisions they take do not have negatives consequences for animal welfare, environmental welfare, worker welfare or have an otherwise detrimental impact on society.
