Tesco yesterday (17 August) began including carbon footprint information on milk as part of the UK retailer’s aim for all its products to carry carbon labels.
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Tesco has set the target of having “footprinted” 500 products by the end of the year.
The move comes in response to increasing awareness among consumers of the impact of the food supply chain on climate change. According to Tesco, 50% of shoppers now understand the meaning of the term “carbon footprint”, up from 32% last year.
Tesco also said that consumers increasingly “want to be green”, with over half of shoppers included in its survey stating that they would actively seek out products that had lower carbon footprints.
Tesco community and government director David North said that Tesco had decided to introduce carbon labels to milk because it is a “prominent”, “iconic” product that will enable the company to help consumers “understand climate change”.
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By GlobalDataTesco also emphasised that it is working with the dairy industry and farmers, through the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group and Dairy Centre of Excellence, to reduce emissions produced in milk production.
“We are currently embarking on a number of research projects to reduce the carbon emissions from milk production. For example, we’re working on using different feeds that might help reduce methane emissions from cows, and encouraging the use of renewable energy on farms” said North.
