I saw this ad in main section of The Sunday New York Times on May 7 (pp.18-19), earlier this year:
Several thoughts on this (and Oatly, which I featured favorably in a prior newsletter; see Strategic CSR – Oatly):
First, Tropicana was one of the earliest brands to calculate the carbon footprint of their orange juice, more than 10 years ago (see Strategic CSR – PepsiCo). What is interesting is that, at that time, I recall they did not advertise the number – the wanted the knowledge primarily to improve their operating/supply chain efficiency. But, if marketing is central to the effort, as it obviously is for Oatly, then there are two questions that are essential – how accurate is the number (are they counting everything that needs to be counted; there are real issues with scope 3 emissions, let along scope 4 – see Strategic CSR – Scope 4 emissions) and does anyone understand it? It will not cause any change in behavior unless customers understand what that number means and can compare it to competing products (the absence of consistent numbers across companies and industries is why all the ESG stuff has been essentially meaningless, so far; see Strategic CSR – ESG).
Second, Oatly is not as good a product as I originally thought. It tastes great, but the reason is that it is stuffed full of sugar. My doctor told me the golden rule is that the amount of protein needs to be greater than the amount of sugar, and I think in Oatly it is the same, 5g of both (if I am remembering the numbers correctly). Fairlife (a Coke product) is much better on this metric – lactose free and much more protein than sugar.
So, the danger with so many of these initiatives at present (because there is no standardization) is that Oatly draws consumers' attention to this work that they are doing (which is no doubt well-intentioned, but may or may not be meaningful – really hard to know without a lot of digging) as a way of concealing the fact that their product is not that much different than drinking a can of soda.
For more information on some of Oatly's progressive approach to this issue, see: https://www.oatly.com/en-us/stuff-we-sell/climate-footprint
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler6e
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
