The much-touted ‘ethical revolution’ in consumption will require producers to engage in ‘ethical auditing’, according to Jonathan Evans of IT specialists Muddy Boots. He warns that brand-led standards and ethical marks are proliferating in Britain’s fiercely competitive retail market. To uphold them, retailers will be required to create additional paperwork trails, detailing how the activities of their suppliers map with their ethical aims.
Already, foreign standards like EurepGap are placed onto produce entering the UK. Now, British growers will have to do much the same. A future audit may comprise attempts to measure a company’s carbon footprint, as recent moves in that direction by Tesco and Innocent Smoothies have indicated.
“More knowledge is always desirable”, he told the Re:fresh conference. “Consumers want traceability - they want to know the ins-and-outs of where their produce has come from like never before. The need to be an ethically-interested company has never been more prevalent.”
No comments yet