Supermarkets earning more with sustainable foods

Supermarkets are earning more from sustainable foods. Last year, 22 percent of the food turnover had a sustainability label, compared to 19 percent in 2020 and only 8 percent in 2013. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and Wageningen University and Research came to this conclusion in a study commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality.

Last year, consumers bought almost 8 billion euros worth of sustainable food in supermarkets, 14 percent more than in 2020. Turnover for food without a sustainability label fell by 4 percent to almost 29 billion euros.

Over 80 percent of pork, fresh and frozen fish and shellfish, eggs, and tea purchased by consumers in 2021 had a sustainability label.

Beer, wine, mineral water, soft drinks, juices, and cheese had the lowest proportion of sustainable sales (between 2 and 6 percent), mainly because the range of sustainable products is still relatively limited.