Consumer group: "Artisan" grocery products not so artisan

Artisan products sold in supermarkets are often not as handcrafted as advertised, argues consumer association Consumentenbond. They want stricter guidelines in place to govern production and distribution of those, and similar goods. Consumers have little confidence in such products and now find the concept deceptive, the association argues. A majority of customers believe artisan goods to be a marketing scheme. The organization discovered that several products from Albert Heijn and Lidl labelled with words similar to "artisan" often contain high quantities of sugars, additives, powders, and flavoring agents. Consumers have expectations about what artisan products should contain which are currently not met, the Consumentenbond said. Among those goods were sea salt and pepper crisps from Albert Heijn and "Oma's Poffertjes" from Lidl. Some of the goods were removed form the shelves after the Consumentenbond investigation. The organization suggests to follow the example of Ireland where the regulator developed a framework for companies that want to label their products as artisan.