Searching for Ecolabels. A mystery shopping exercise in supermarkets across Europe
Searching for Ecolabels. A mystery shopping exercise in supermarkets across Europe
People care about the impact of what they buy. But how easy is it to find sustainable products across Europe? We ran a mystery shopping exercise in 13 countries to find out.
The snapshot survey was carried out by the EEB and BEUC in collaboration with 12 national consumer organisations and one national ecolabel competent body. Mystery shoppers checked supermarkets in Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia. They considered the following ecolabels: the EU Ecolabel, the Scandinavian Nordic Swan, the German Blue Angel, and the Austrian Ecolabel.
The results? In most countries, products carrying these robust ecolabels are cheaper than conventional products, but their availability varies enormously across countries – from 80% of supermarkets in Denmark, to just 2% in Cyprus.
Supermarkets play a key role in ensuring products carrying ecolabels are available, visible, and affordable to consumers. It’s time for retailers to step up and make the sustainable choice the easy choice everywhere in Europe.
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