Supermarkets

Launched in January 2015, the SUPPLY CHA!NGE project brings together 29 civil society organizations from across Europe, as well as partners from the Global South.

Through their strong buying power and dual role as both buyer and provider to end consumers, supermarkets exert a major influence on the global food supply chain.

Although most supermarkets continue to source third party brands, due to private label production, the role of supermarkets is changing. Increasingly, retailers do not act as mere traders, but become brands in their own right, with offerings ranging from discounting to premium labels across a huge range of categories.

Both ecological and social standards for these private brands vary greatly and provide little direction to consumers on responsible choices. However, with 40% private label products on EU supermarket shelves, this product category has great potential to impact positively the growing challenges of fairer and more sustainable consumption and production patterns. This is the leverage point of the EU-funded SUPPLY CHA!NGE project.

We work with retail professionals, EU policy makers and consumers alike in order to identify and promote best practice procedures. We intend to achieve this through a great variety of initiatives aimed at:

• Awareness raising
• Business dialogue
• Policy advocacy
• Research

If you want more information, visit the project website.