The food production industry contributes towards one-fourth of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Today, many customers want to mitigate the detrimental impact that certain food products have on the environment but are unsure about which products contribute most towards green house emissions.
To motivate people to make environmentally conscious and informed food choices and guide people towards doing so effectively, the Swedish food brand Felix has opened a new store that prices products based on their climate impact: the more the impact of the product on the environment, the higher it is charged.
Called The Climate Store, this shop requires customers to buy products using CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalents currency. It allocates a weekly budget of 18.9 kg CO2e to its customers, which they have to use judiciously so as to not overshoot. This helps them understand the cost that the food items bear on the environment. For example, plant-based food products are budgeted lower than their meat-based counterparts.
“It will be exciting to see how customers react to trading with the CO2e currency and see if they manage to stay within their weekly budget,” Thomas Sjöberg, marketing manager for Felix, said. “I think it will be an eye-opener for many to see how certain choices affect what [they] can afford to get in the same lunch bag.”
Felix, owned by Orkla Foods, also plans to label all its products based on their impact on the climate, enabling customers to reduce the use of environmentally harmful products.
Isn’t this a great way of making people aware of how their food choices impact the environment? Do you think stores in your country should also begin an initiative on similar lines? Would such a store help you make an environmentally conscious choice? Let us know what you think about The Climate Store in the comments section below.
