Trend analysis of sustainability claims: The European fisheries and aquaculture markets case

Highlights

• The share of FAPs with sustainability claims (SC) is increasing across Europe.

• Sustainability and packaging claims drive the market, not organic or animal welfare.

• SC on the resource is effective for species not subject to overexploitation.

• For wild fish SC relate mainly packaging and not the resource management.

• Consumers’ awareness of the sustainable management claims for FAPs is needed.

Abstract

The future of European fisheries and aquaculture depends not only on their capacity to innovate (e.g., introduce new products) but also on their ability to realize sustainable production given the environmental concerns surrounding fisheries. Market tools can be used to signal sustainability to consumers by balancing sustainability and competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to explore the trends related to the introduction of fishery and aquaculture products (FAPs) with sustainability attributes among 32,215 products commercialized in Europe between 2000 and 2019 using Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD). The data provide information on a variety of sustainability claims on product packages. Of all the FAPs, 35.21% included at least one sustainability claim. We used trend analysis to investigate the countries and species that lead the introduction of new products associated with sustainability to understand the drivers of sustainability in the European FAP markets. The results indicated that the share of FAPs launched in the market with sustainability claims was increasing across Europe, mainly driven by sustainability on raw material and sustainable packaging, while sustainable products with organic or animal welfare claims were not market drivers of sustainability. In addition to differences in the sustainability claims by country, we highlighted some heterogeneity in the market across species. Nevertheless, market incentives to promote sustainability, while matching consumer expectations, also seemed efficient in effectively promoting sustainable resources.

Introduction

The consumption of fishery and aquaculture products (FAPs) in Europe has increased substantially in the past few years and reached 24.36 kg per capita in 2018 (EUMOFA, 2020). In 2019, this consumption represents a household expenditure of approximately 56.6 billion euros. Within these countries, the Romania showed the largest increase (8% of household expenditures between 2018 and 2019), while Italy, Spain and France represented larger markets in terms of value (11.686, 10.055 and 8.724 million euros, respectively, in 2019) (EUMOFA, 2020). In terms of household expenditure per capita in 2019, the average in Europe was 110 euros. Portugal remained at first place in the European consumption chart (approximately 371 euros per capita), while eastern countries recorded lower FAP expenditures (15 euros per capita in Hungary and 27 euros in Bulgaria) (EUMOFA, 2020). The increase in FAP consumption was more important for aquaculture products than for captured products. Nevertheless, the European market remained mostly derived from capture fisheries production, which represented 74% of the total apparent consumption in 2018 (EUMOFA, 2020). Furthermore, the self-efficiency of FAPs European market is about 42.5% (EUMOFA, 2020).

It is important to note that the increase in FAP consumption had environmental impacts, such as overfishing or impacts on the ecosystem. In both capture fisheries and aquaculture, the answer to sustainability issues also necessitates matching market expectations and maintaining competitiveness. Nevertheless, investing in more sustainable practices can lead to an increase in production costs, which must be offset by the price to remain competitive in an internationalized market. In addition, the absence of certification can become an entry barrier to trade. In either case, companies need to remain competitive while resolving sustainability issues.

Innovation is an important factor that supports the competitiveness of European companies. It is a driver of FAP consumption and represents an opportunity for companies to match consumers’ new expectations and distinguish themselves from competitors (Menrad, 2004, EUMOFA, 2017a, Thong and Solgaard, 2017). Innovation includes product innovations, process innovations, marketing innovations and organizational innovations (OECD, 2005). Furthermore, innovations are not necessarily disruptive changes but can be incremental (OECD, 2005), and they may be firm dependent. A new product or innovation for a firm does not necessarily mean a new product for the market. In the framework of this paper, we focus on innovation that aims to create new products at the firm level. Innovation is either incremental or disruptive and perceptible by the final consumer. Innovation does not always equal a new product but rather is a much broader concept, and we will focus on the latter.

Launching new products on the market is strategic for companies. Both suppliers and retailers need to be competitive, but competitiveness cannot be based only on price and may be based on the ability to answer consumers’ needs. Indeed, the competitiveness of the European FAP industry is a major issue for companies, and product differentiation can lead to greater competition. Sustainable positioning is a way to remain competitive, but sustainability is not the only determinant of consumer preferences. Convenience, health, ethics, quality, and price, among other things, drive consumers’ preferences for FAPs (Carlucci et al., 2015). Innovation is driven by consumer expectations and company anticipation of future consumption trends (Blezat Consulting et al., 2017). Environmental issues require solutions that can maintain the state of the environment by preventing negative impact while maintaining market competitiveness and answering consumers’ needs and expectations. Through the trend analysis of new products, we can extract information regarding retailers and suppliers on their expectations about what consumers want. The aims of this study are to determine whether the European market succeeds in reconciling both imperative innovation (via new product) and sustainability and whether innovation by firms favor sustainability. Using Mintel’s Global New Product Database (GNPD) on new products (Solis, 2016), it is possible to track the launch of new FAPs in the European market. Thus, we can analyze whether the new FAPs in the European market followed a trend toward sustainability.

The structure of the paper is as follows: We present the role played by market tools to signal sustainability to consumers and the trend in Europe in terms of FAPs and sustainable consumption. Then, we present the data used to analyze new FAP trends, the method used, and the results of the trend analysis. Finally, we discuss the results and provide the conclusions.