Consumer Dollars Going to Sustainable Brands: NYU Research

Sustainably-marketed products accounted for 50% of consumer packaged goods (CPG) growth from 2013 to 2018, according to NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

Further, products with sustainability claims on-package accounted for 16.6% of the total CPG market in 2018, delivering nearly $113.9 billion in sales and growing 5.6 times faster than their conventional equivalents. As for that sales number? It’s predicted to grow to a staggering $140.5 billion by 2023.Successful sustainable food categoriesNYU researchers also determined which food categories held the largest share of sustainably-marketed products.

Here’s the breakdown:

< 5% ShareCarbonated DrinksEnergy DrinksPet FoodPet TreatsCookiesChocolateCandy

5%- 18% ShareSoupCereal

> 18% ShareCrackersNatural cheeseFresh breadSalty snacksBottled juicesCoffeeMilkYogurt

The future of CPGs

The future of the CPG space, this Harvard Business Review article notes, is indeed sustainable. To carve out space in the sustainable goods arena, brands should take heed of these two pieces of advice offered in the HBR article: 

• An attitude of “Why mess with a recipe that has worked well over the last 40 years?” is the wrong one to take.

• Corporate leadership should no longer give brand managers a pass when they claim that there is no demand for sustainable products.

All of these findings — especially sales projections — are consistent with other recent reports, like IRI’s Early View 2019: Food & Beverage Trends and Nielsen data from late 2018. It’s not hard to find the proof that sustainability is a growing space in the food industry in the headlines, either. 

Here are some stories of food industry giants that are pulling ahead of the pack: 

• Hellmann’s Mayonnaise and Mayonnaise Dressings Now Use 100% Cage-free Eggs in the U.S.*, Three Years Ahead of Schedule

• Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN’s On-Farm Digital Platform Connects Farmers, Food Companies in End-to-End Approach to Sustainability

• Nestlé Joins WWF’s OpenSC Blockchain for Sustainable Supply Shains

• Danone North America Achieves First “Zero Waste to Landfill” Goal at Bridgeton, NJ Plant

And some commentary on startups poised to make a splash: 

• Beyond the Burger: A look at the Building Blocks Used to Make Better Plant-based Meat

• This Startup Wants to Be the Beyond Meat of Pet Food

• Upcycling: Companies Giving New Life to Food Byproducts