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Eight in 10 shoppers say food is over-packaged
Alex Stephens, Evening Standard28 Mar 2008
A consumer backlash against over-packaged food and drinks is revealed in a survey today.
It found almost 80 per cent of London shoppers now believe supermarkets use too much packaging on their food items.
Seventy per cent said they tried to buy products with minimal packaging and 80 per cent felt some foods did not need any at all.
The increasing environmental concerns of shoppers have prompted stores to redesign packaging and so improve their green credentials.
These include big names such as Tesco, which recently reduced readymeal packaging by 35 per cent, and specialist producers such as the Serious Food Company, which sells puddings in reusable ceramic dishes.
A spokesman for Mintel, which carried out the survey, said: " Retailers are coming under increasing pressure to step up and introduce eco-friendly packaging. It is no longer enough for a pack to look good, it has to be gentle on the environment as well."
The survey found 77 per cent of Londoners recycle some or all of their supermarket packaging. However-London still sends 3.4 million tonnes of waste a year to landfill - almost 60 per cent of it outside the capital - at a cost of £24 per tonne. Some experts forecast this could rise to almost 23 million tonnes by 2020.
Luke Vincent of Dragon, a brand agency that advises companies on package design, said: "These findings are no surprise to me.
"There has been a shift in people's values. They are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues and with that comes guilt.
"Customers expect retailers and manufacturers to make it easier for them to do the right thing when they go shopping. We want to go back to going shopping and not feeling guilty. Packaging is not always the most significant issue when it comes to a product's green credentials, but it is very visible and tangible, which is why it has become so important to customers and retailers.
"For manufacturers, being green is a prerequisite for being accepted in the market. Environmentally friendly packaging shows a company is relevant, modern and of good quality."
Reader views (3)
While tending to agree that food is over-packaged, it's unfortunate that most commentators do not understand the baleful influence of EU legislation and health rules which have led to a lot of the excess packaging over the years. So what manufacturers will now do is barely reduce the actual packaging to what they are allowed to reduce it to (which is not a lot actually for most foods) and then spend a lot of money telling us how much they have done. But most of that extra packaging we object to will still be there. Many years ago, I worked on researching the rules surrounding testing on animals. I quickly realised that EU laws (now even more draconian) force and oblige animal tests, even where scientists say none are needed. This is all done in the name of "consumer protection"... and there is nothing any elected politician in the UK can do about it.
- Damian Hockney Am, London Assembly Candidate for the One London Party, 28/03/2008 16:04
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Part of the over-packaging plan is to yet further extend the shelf-life of the products!
Buyers beware!
- Fraser, Telford Park, 28/03/2008 13:13
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The great bulk of our un-recycled household waste is food packaging from supermarkets. Fruit and vegetables should be sold loose, or at least with paper based packaging trays. The labels on drink bottles are often printed on plastic instead of paper. Why is celeriac wrapped in plastic?
No reason why meat should not be sold in paper based trays.
- Ian, London, 28/03/2008 12:33
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