Unpacking green claims (part 3): best practices for better environmental claims
During my in-store review of plant based products, I was surprised to find that only five brands published environmental claims for the product itself. Most brands stuck to trustworthy ecolabels like EU V-Label, EU Organic and FSC and packaging related claims.
This could be because plant-based food brands are conscious about the risk of greenwashing and prefer to make no claims at all rather than vague or misleading claims.
There is a huge missed opportunity for plant-based brands to communicate their impact to consumers and effectively position themselves as the more sustainable choice.
So what are the best practices brands can follow to make better green claims and avoid greenwashing?
Make objective and verifiable claims:
Gather the appropriate evidence to support your claim: it should be based on accepted science and standards, reflect the entire product life-cycle, independently verified and up to date.
Avoid vague or misleading statements, use clear and specific language.
Include quantifiable data and references to your sources.
If you chose to make climate neutrality claims, make sure you clearly explain to the customer what this means and keep in mind that they may be banned in the future.
Ensure that supporting evidence is publicly accessible:
Make methodology, name of third-party providers, and additional data easily accessible, ideally through your website or in your corporate sustainability reports.
Bonus point if the evidence is directly accessible from the packaging with a link or a QR code.
Publish information from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and explain any assumption or caveats to provide a solid foundation for your claims.
Include all the relevant information:
Move beyond CO2 emissions, check what other major environmental impacts your product has and include all the relevant categories in your claims.
Think about what information consumers need to make informed choices about your products. It may be useful to share comparative impacts (e.g. plant-based vs. meat alternative).
By adopting these practices, plant-based brands can lead with integrity, making green claims that are not only credible but also actionable for consumers, stay ahead of regulatory requirements and contribute to the development of a more transparent and trustworthy green market.