At the end of October, NGO ProVeg International hosted the first-ever Retailer Roundtable in Berlin. Over 40 market leaders from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Poland gathered with other retail and food system experts to discuss one important question: How can retailers work together to facilitate a protein transition towards a more sustainable food system?
In its recent New Food Hub article, ProVeg uncovers the main themes, discussion points, ambitions, and outcomes of the event. From bold commitments to innovative new strategies, the potential to realise the future of food was palpable.
Why retailers?
With industry leaders from across Europe in attendance, one point was abundantly clear: retailers hold a powerful and important role in facilitating a protein transition towards a more sustainable food system.
Retailers have a unique position in the value chain as the interface between producers and consumers and have the power to influence consumer purchasing choices and habits. This power comes with responsibility – retailers should enable consumers to easily make ethical, sustainable, and healthy food choices. In short, retailers are not just observers but active changemakers in this crucial transition.
How can retailers propel the protein transition?
Colruyt Group, in attendance at the roundtable, stood out as a great example of a retailer adopting a holistic strategy to promote sustainable, plant-based foods.
Colruyt Group is focusing on promoting the protein transition in various ways, partnering with ProVeg’s Veggie Challenge, which encourages (and with Colruyt Group’s support further enables) consumers to eat a more plant-based diet for 30 days and build healthy, sustainable eating habits.
But the group is also reshaping the very environment where food choices are made. Providing recipe suggestions and cooking workshops elevates consumer knowledge about plant-based diets. In-store tasting stalls become experiential touchpoints, inviting shoppers to discover the appeal of plant-based options firsthand.
On top of this, it is developing an ‘eco-score’ system on thousands of its products to empower consumers to make more sustainable eating choices.
What next?
Colruyt’s creative combined efforts demonstrate the ability of retailers to tackle multiple aspects of the shopping environment, making changes that empower consumers, who can increasingly shop with the knowledge and the ability to make sustainable purchasing choices.
But Colruyt Group wasn’t the only retailer present at the roundtable, which demonstrated great efforts to facilitate more sustainable food choices. ProVeg’s Retailer Roundtable demonstrated the hard work going on across the retail sector. There was a sense of ambition and responsibility in the air – this now needs to be followed with collaboration, commitment, and action.
If you want to learn more about how you can be part of the retailer protein transition, contact ProVeg Corporate at [email protected] to speak to ProVeg’s specialist team.
Read the full article on the New Food Hub, and, to be part of the change, speak to ProVeg’s team at [email protected]. Keep your eyes peeled for the Retailer Roundtable 2024
