Dutch consumer opts for more sustain­able products

Increasingly, people are opting for products with more sustainable certification. This trend is highlighted in the annual Monitor Keurmerken Retail by Circana, showing significant growth in the sale of foods with sustainability certificates.

Rising demand for sustainability

The latest figures reveal that an impressive quarter of all sold food products now bear a more sustainable certification, up from 22.3% last year. Notably, the revenue from these products grew by 22%, almost double the rate of the total food revenue increase of 9.5%. This growth is primarily driven by increased sales of poultry meat bearing the 'Beter Leven Keurmerk' (1 star) and the continued popularity of organic products.

Drivers of growth

The 'Beter Leven Keurmerk', with 1 star, plays a pivotal role in this trend. In 2023, nearly 500 million euros of regular poultry meat was replaced by meat with this certification. As a result, now 60% of the sold chicken carries a certification, a substantial increase from 44.1% in 2021. Additionally, there's been significant growth in the sale of organic fruit, with an impressive increase of 91.3%. The total revenue from organic food rose by 14.5%, bringing its total value in 2023 to 1.6 billion euros.

Key certifications and trends

Beyond meat and fruit, there have also been notable increases in the sale of organic fish (32%) and cheese (22.4%). Organic grocery items have also shown strong growth of nearly 12%. The 'Beter Leven Keurmerk' dominates the market with a turnover of nearly 3 billion euros. Interestingly, the monitor does not include data from discounters such as Aldi and Lidl. If included, the total revenue from products with a more sustainable certification could exceed the 10 billion euro mark in 2023.

View the report.

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