Sustainability: Building trust with consumers is needed

The lack of a concrete definition of sustainability points to the need to earn consumers’ trust, research from The Packer indicates.

According to the study, performed by Aimpoint Research with support by Apeel Sciences and Emerald Packaging, only 15% of consumers completely trust that they are being provided sustainable options in the marketplace. 

Trust needs to be built with the remaining 85%, according to the report.

Scott Caine, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Aimpoint Research, said telling the sustainability story is important, but it doesn’t need to be overloaded by lots of data and should resonate with a broad spectrum of players.

“If the story is articulated in a way that helps farmers tell their story and consumers hear that story, there is room for this story to be very well received,” Caine said.

Read the full Sustainability Inisights publication here.

While consumers and growers both think they are leading the way in sustainability, Caine said that is not necessarily a bad thing.

“The beauty of this story is that the three or more characters to the story all feel a sense of profound responsibility to the hero in the story, and the hero in this story is sustainability,” he said.

“I think that’s what’s most encouraging about this is that everybody feels personally responsible and accountable to this, and as a consequence, we should all be able to come together and really run with this in a unified way.”

When it comes to sustainability standards, Caine said the research reveals that consumers would most trust a government authority to police standards, while growers tend to think they can best measure their sustainability efforts.

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