Nielsen report reveals sustainability claims boosts coffee sales

A new Nielsen report, titled What’s Sustainability Got to do With It? has found that American sales of coffee products that make certain sustainability claims grew faster than those that did not. The report says while overall coffee sales growth fell one per cent between March 2017 and March 2018, coffee products with environmental and fair trade claims experienced double-digit dollar sales growth for the same period. For products with environmental claims on their packaging, total dollar growth increased by 25 per cent from March 2017 to March 2018. These claims ranged from recyclable packaging and less plastic waste to ethical sourcing and eco-friendly labelling, contributing to a sales growth of 52 per cent. Quantity sales were up as well. Compared to the sales volume growth of four per cent in the total coffee category, coffee products with environmental claims also outpaced the overall category, growing 52 per cent in sales volume in the last year. Fair trade is another sustainability claim the report says saw considerable traction among coffee consumers in the last year. From March 2017 to March 2018, coffee products with fair trade labels on their packaging experienced dollar sales growth of 21 per cent. Sales volume grew at a comparable 21 per cent from the previous year. The report also found an absence of artificial ingredients claim did not significantly affect sales. Coffee products free of artificial ingredients had flat dollar growth and a slightly higher sales volume growth, at five per cent, from the previous year. Nielsen based its report on point-of-sale data (RMS) combined with WellnessTrack claims and sustainable product attributes sourced from Nielsen Product Insider.