Third-party labelling

There you are in the supermarket, reaching for the tuna/eggs/coffee/whatever. Two brands sit side-by-side on the shelf – they’re the same price – so which one do you pick? Well, the one labelled dolphin-safe obviously. Or free-range. Or Fairtrade. Or whatever – basically if one product says it’s better for the planet and its people, and the price is the same, then the choice is simple.

Even when the price isn’t the same, we’ll sometimes still make an eco pick. You know how it goes: your hand wavers, your eyes flick to the price, then you quickly grab the free-trade dolphin-fair safe-range thingamabob, drop it in your trolley, and the sick feeling you get when you think about your budget is outweighed by the glow of knowing you’ve done the right thing.

Yet how do we really know it’s right?

In this issue of Green Ideas we’ve looked hard at some common supermarket products – eggs and seafood – and found that with these products, and many others, shoppers have very little guarantee that brands are telling the truth when they claim to be free-range, Fairtrade or sustainable.

In New Zealand it’s up to the Commerce Commission to police the claims that products make, which they only tend to do when a complaint is made. And it’s fair to say that we’re not a nation of complainers. In practice that means a company could probably get away with marketing their tuna as ‘dolphin safe’ simply because they keep all the photos of the dolphins they’ve killed in a ‘dolphin safe’ at head office…

Thankfully our legislative wilderness is being tamed by a new breed of operators: the third-party labels. Organisations like the MSC, which certifies seafood, offer an independent assurance that eco brands are doing what they say on the tin. And, okay, with all the different labelling schemes it’s still pretty confusing. But we’re working hard at Green Ideas to find the third-party labels you can really trust, and tell you about them.

It’s also important to realise it’s a growing movement – for instance we’ve heard recently about several big firms planning to abandon cruel or unsustainable practices as they work for the right to display some of those labels. So we’ll keep you informed when that happens.

And in the meantime, don’t forget why these companies are making changes in the first place. It’s not because they’re all suddenly being run by good people (although some are). It’s because you and I – in that moment when we’re in the supermarket and our hands are wavering between two competing brands – in that little moment, we possess a lot of power.

So enjoy that third-party-approved tuna, or chicken, or coffee – you deserve it. And give your dolphin a pat from me.

Greg Roughan
Editor, Green Ideas magazine

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