Ecolabels: A Catalyst for Sustainable Food Choices?

Insights from a Science-Policy Roundtable

Enjoying good food is one of life’s great pleasures. Preparing and eating a delicious meal can be the highlight of a day; it’s emotional, cultural, and, of course, essential for survival. Yet every meal we enjoy carries a carbon footprint. According to the IPCC’s Special Report on Climate Change and Land, as much as 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions may be attributable to the food system. While we savour our meals, we may be aware of their potential environmental impact and want to eat more sustainably. But what does that really mean? Is it about how local the food is? Or seasonal? Or is it rather about avoiding certain high-carbon meats? But what about heavily processed plant-based foods?  And how do we weigh these factors when rushing through a crowded supermarket at the end of a long day?

It seems that many of us want to make better choices. A recent study by EIT Food revealed that two-thirds of people interviewed would like to better understand the environmental footprint of the food they consume, with many welcoming a universal label to support this effort.

So, could eco-labels be the solution for greener, more sustainable eating habits, by helping us make informed decisions about what we put on our plates?

This question was at the heart of a two-day expert roundtable held earlier this year by the UK Science & Innovation Network, and Behavioural Science Consultancy Behaven. The event was the third in a series applying behavioural insights to climate questions, and brought together behavioural scientists, business leaders, policymakers, and civil society representatives from across Europe to explore the effectiveness of eco-labels on food, identify successes, address challenges, and look to the future of such initiatives.

Below is a snapshot of some of the key insights shared by the participants. Though by no means exhaustive, it offers a glimpse into the rich discussions. If you would like to delve deeper, you can explore the full Workshop Report.

Do Ecolabels Work?

Starting with the basics: Do eco-labels actually work?

The answer was complex. While studies show public support for eco-labels, this doesn’t always translate into the desired behaviours. One reason is our limited mental bandwidth during the purchasing process. Often, shopping is squeezed into a busy schedule, leaving little time to fully consider a product’s environmental impact. Instead, we rely on unconscious habits and tendencies to make decisions. Research has also shown that generally it’s those consumers who already have a stronger level of pro-environmental awareness for whom the eco-label has a stronger impact. For those with minimal existing environmental concern, the impact of an eco-label is limited.

In addition, the consideration of environmental impact is vying with other considerations, such as health and price – two categories which we are often more familiar with consulting in our shopping choices.

The proliferation of different eco-labels adds another layer of complexity. With 456 eco-labels across 199 countries – according to the Ecolabel Index – the variety can create confusion and mistrust rather than transparency and clarity.

What Is Being Labelled and How?

Another challenge is what’s being compared as “more” or “less” sustainable. Are we comparing the more sustainable chicken against the less sustainable chicken, or the more sustainable chicken against the even more sustainable lentils? And if the latter, the comparison is going to be easier if the lentils are placed next to the chicken on the supermarket shelf.

Effectiveness, therefore, is not only about the eco-labels themselves but also about how they’re integrated into the overall shopping experience. This includes the layout of the supermarket or, in online shopping, how the checkout cart is displayed to draw more attention to the ecolabels. Eco-labels need to be part of a broader strategy that includes communication campaigns, in-store design, and pricing strategies. By combining eco-labels with these initiatives, consumers can be better guided through their purchasing journey, keeping sustainability top of mind.

Building Trust Through Data Credibility

Trust is crucial for the effectiveness of eco-labels. We view these labels as indicators of a product’s “credence characteristics”—qualities we must trust without direct verification. High-quality, traceable data is essential for building this trust, yet challenges remain around data variability and availability. Currently, some stakeholders prioritise primary data, while others rely on secondary sources, leading to inconsistencies. Clear criteria and thresholds for data quality are needed to address these challenges.

Beyond the Consumer

Eco-labels aren’t just tools for guiding consumer choices; they also have the potential to drive sustainable practices across supply chains. Supported by rigorous data, these labels can shape business-to-business interactions, helping retailers choose suppliers committed to sustainability. However, this requires broad buy-in across the supply chain. Retailers can play a pivotal role here by incentivising producers to provide detailed impact data. Producers, however, may hesitate to share data due to concerns about competitors’ access or doubts about data quality. An independent third-party system for data verification, supported by a shared secure database, could ensure that the data behind eco-labels is both accurate and secure.

The financial sector was flagged as another key player. Aligning eco-labels with financial standards can help reduce investment risks in the food system, directing capital towards genuinely sustainable practices that consider longer-term resilience and natural resource issues. By addressing these factors, eco-labels can contribute to a more robust and sustainable food system, ultimately benefiting producers and consumers.

Looking Ahead

While there was consensus among roundtable participants that eco-labels could be powerful tools for promoting sustainable practices, both among consumers and within supply chains, their effectiveness will hinge on ensuring simplicity, transparency, data quality, and collaboration across stakeholders.

In the spirit of continuous learning and iteration, the hope is that the experts who participated in the Roundtable will continue to share experiences, failures, and successes as they advance their work on eco-labels. This exchange of knowledge can help avoid repeating mistakes in different contexts and accelerate the development of effective strategies towards our net-zero goals.

Eco-labels are also just one small piece of a much larger sustainability puzzle. Similar discussions need to take place across various approaches to encouraging sustainable food behaviours and beyond, including addressing mobility habits, energy consumption, and more.

If you’re interested in joining this ongoing exploration or learning more about the insights shared above or from previous roundtables in the Behaviours for Net Zero series, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!

Please note: This Roundtable took place under the previous UK administration, and the views summarised above do not necessarily represent the views of the UK Government. 

If you’re interested to find out about the UK Government Approach to food data transparency, please check out the Food Data Transparency Partnership:  FDTP: towards consistent, accurate and accessible environmental impact quantification for the agri-food industry – GOV.UK. Please note – this policy paper was also published under 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government.