Everybody is talking about sustainability and we know that we all have a responsibility to play our part, whether as businesses or as shoppers. As consumers, we may be reducing our use of the family car, thinking twice before binning the left-over carrots and using them in soup instead, or making a conscious effort to recycle more. However, it can be a little trickier as a business and some are finding it increasingly hard to align profitability and sustainability. What can we in the independent trade do to play our part while still running a profitable business?
An important point to keep in mind is that a move to sustainability is an investment for future success. A 2023 joint study by McKinsey and NielsenIQ, revealed that shoppers are pivoting their spending towards products and companies that make sustainable or ESG claims. Furthermore, in a separate study by NielsenIQ, 60 percent of respondents said that they would pay more for a product with sustainable packaging. This move towards sustainable spending will likely continue, which is an important consideration for businesses. Not only in terms of the products you offer in-store but also in how your outlet operates, as shoppers who are making decisions based on sustainability may be more likely to support your outlet over others who may be less focused on sustainability.
As the original loose, frozen foods proposition, sustainability has always been part of Fieldfare’s core offering and ticks several boxes both for shoppers and retailers. Our products are loose so there’s no unnecessary packaging and by the nature of what we offer, our loose and individually portioned foods can help shoppers to reduce food waste at home. Equally, our unique concept can help retailers to reduce food waste in store minimise plastic and packaging use and potentially reduce operating costs, thus increasing profitability.
LESS WASTE:
We all know that it is a necessity to remove out-of-date stock but shoppers do not like to see stores throwing food away, and of course for the retailer, throwing stock away, is throwing profit away, which no one wants. Due to its naturally extended shelf life, frozen food can help retailers to substantially reduce stock loss and in the eyes of customers, reduce food waste. With careful management, Fieldfare products can last between 9 and 24 months, depending on the product. That is great news in terms of stock management. This can lead to big cost savings as well as reduced time and effort from staff who won’t need to check sell-by dates as frequently as with chilled. For the shopper, offering a unique and exciting concept such as Fieldfare’s loose and individually portioned foods, means that you are giving them a choice. They can choose exactly how much or little of a product they need, rather than being confined to pre-packed quantities.
ENERGY SAVINGS:
Consider how you are storing perishables. Fieldfare’s chest freezers are substantially more energy efficient than upright freezers, using only 3.3 kwh of energy per day. That equates to 2.5 times less energy usage, which in turn helps to reduce your outlet’s carbon footprint. A point that your shoppers may be interested to know about, especially if you need to get them used to a change to your usual stock offer.
PACKAGING:
Offering shoppers the opportunity to choose low or no-packaging products is a big benefit. Not only do we reduce plastic use but it helps shoppers to reduce waste at home as well. They may bring their own containers or use compostable or recyclable bags provided. There’s more to what meets the eye though. As a business, Fieldfare has set ambitious targets to reduce packaging at a wholesale level as well. Foods need to be protected, so it is not possible to get rid of all packaging entirely, but we are constantly reviewing what materials we use and looking out for viable alternatives to plastics.
INFORMING SHOPPERS:
Communicating your efforts to customers is extremely important. You can make the most wonderful advances in your sustainability offer but if your shoppers and local community are not aware, the benefits to your business may be limited. Speak to suppliers to see what marketing tools they may have available to help you and how they market their products to consumers. Fieldfare’s advertising activity has for example reached millions of consumers across the UK and we help our stockists with social media and marketing assets such as images, videos and in-store media to bring our loose proposition to life.
Finally, working towards a more sustainable future is everyone’s responsibility and the easier we can make it for our shoppers to be more sustainable at home, by offering them better choices and inspiring good practices such as recycling or avoiding plastics, the more we can be sure that we are playing our very important part.
Find out more at: https://field-fare.com/ or contact the team at
SEE US AT FARM SHOP & DELI SHOW 2024
Matt Whelan, our Managing Director here at Fieldfare will also be featuring on a sustainability panel at the Farm Shop & Deli Show (29 April – 01 May). Matt will feature in a panel discussing consumer expectations around sustainable practices, and how Fieldfare and other leading retailers and manufacturers are driving change.
Join him at the Farm Shop & Deli Stage on Tuesday 30th April at 10:30am.
To find out more and to register for your free pass to the show, click here.
