Tesco misses the mark

Tesco is said to be dropping the carbon labelling that it displayed so prominently on many of its products. This was a groundbreaking scheme for a monster of the retail sector. Where did it all go wrong?

Marketing Week reports that Tesco’s move reflects “disappointment” that more supermarkets didn’t follow suit. But this isn’t a blame game of Tesco showing leadership and others failing to follow. Plenty of activity is going on to communicate product sustainability to consumers, whether it’s the mass of Fairtrade labels in Sainsbury’s and the Co-op, free-range-egg labelling on Hellman’s mayonnaise and McDonald’s paper bags, or the pictures of smiling, eco-friendly farmers on pots of Yeo Valley, on the meat in Waitrose and on the KitKat wrapper. Retailers and Brands are talking to consumers; they’re just talking in a different way to Tesco.

The fact of the matter is that many consumers don’t fully understand what a carbon footprint is, let alone feel informed to make a decision based on a “360g CO2” label on their orange juice. We need a clearer message about the products on Tesco’s shelves. That could mean more recognised labels such as Fairtrade, Red Tractor, Freedom Food or even the new WindMade sign. But even better would be embedding sustainability into the brand so that consumers trust that what they’re buying meets a certain standard. Hats off to M&S, there. Tesco was right to think that consumers want supermarkets to show leadership, but its attempt to engage them in that conversation missed the mark.