The label maze

More and more people are getting interested in ethical consumerism, but few people can recognize the true ethical labels. Nowadays companies know that some consumers are seduced by labels such as “environmentally friendly product” , “fair trade”, etc.. This is why companies tend to create their own ethical labels. These labels cause a lot of confusion amongst consumers, because each label has its own requirements. Some of these labels are very easy to get and don’t require any ethical behavior of the company. As a result of this consumers are often mislead. They think that they are purchasing ethical products, but nothing is farther from the truth. This shows the important need for more global approved labels. The ETP (Ethical Tea Partnership) is an example of such a label. It’s a label created by different companies in association with NGOs that protect ethical standards. The label requires companies to respect local laws and to create healthy working conditions in foreign plantations. The Lipton Tea company is one of the biggest leading firms that uses this label.(the guardian)

This article shows that ethical consumerism is being abused by some companies. In my opinion this is mainly the result of the fact that people don’t know enough about ethical labels. Personally, I only know the requirements for the Fair Trade label and thanks to Evelyn’s article I now also know the requirements for the Unilever label, but there’re a lot of labels about which I don’t know anything. So I think it’s important for consumers, governments and companies to create more global approved labels and to make sure that consumers know what they stand for.


Cedric Meyers