Sainsbury’s and Unilever offer free sustainability tips
Unilever and Sainsbury’s have collaborated to produce an online toolkit to help other retailers, brands and manufacturers to develop sustainable initiatives that generate profit.
The two companies, in partnership with Forum for the Future, want to make it easier for businesses to create sustainable products and services.
Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s, says that by encouraging retailers and brands to compete to create sustainable initiatives, practices will become more mainstream.
He adds: “Those of us leading the charge are happy about it being open source because it means more companies will join us on the turf and there will be more competition on the issues.”
The toolkit is part of the Consumer Futures 2020 study launched by Forum for the Future today (12 October), which forecasts future attitudes towards sustainable living and how brands can meet consumers’ needs.
Unilever and Sainsbury’s developed four scenarios and will use the framework to inform marketing strategies, plan product innovation and develop business practices.
The scenarios and study will be available online for other businesses, including Unilever and Sainsbury’s rivals, to access to inform strategy development and innovation.
Unilever UK and Ireland chairman Amanda Sourry says the study should be a “provocation” for businesses and brands to assess how they will meet changing consumer needs in 2020.
She adds: “We’re at risk of economic difficulties clouding everything, so we need to push to make changes. We’ll use Consumer Futures in our business to mainstream sustainability in a way that brings commercial success.”
The Consumer Futures 2020 report comes as Sainsbury’s unveiled its own sustainability initiative.
