Research & Development into Greener Technologies is Enabling not only Industrial Products, but also a New Generation of Consumer and Household Products
There is growing evidence that a consumer-driven market for green tech is becoming more and more powerful. Today, giant corporations, among the biggest end-users of raw materials, products and services that might be more efficiently consumed through the application of green technologies, are likely to have their own sustainability departments or special executives in this area. For example, global software giant SAP AG has a “Chief Sustainability Officer.” Likewise, leading investment banks are developing experts in green tech. Goldman Sachs operates a “Clean Technology and Renewables Group.”
As green technologies advance, and they are doing so at considerable speed in many sectors, and economies of scale kick in thanks to high-volume manufacturing, then it will become easier and easier for both businesses and household consumers to change their buying and capital investment habits to support green technologies. Put another way, high-efficiency light bulbs at $30 each are not very appealing to consumers, but bulbs at $2 that have considerably longer life and burn much less power than traditional bulbs are relatively easy to sell, despite the fact that they would are much more expensive than traditional bulbs. Many manufacturers and services firms, both large and small, see great profit potential in positioning at least a part of their offerings around sustainability, including use of recyclable materials, lower energy consumption, lower use of water, environmentally-friendly packaging, fewer chemical additives and greater concern for environmental impact overall.
In fact, powerful new consumer brands, such as the Honest Company, are seeing excellent growth in consumer products such as household cleansers, baby products and skin care. Much of the success in the development of new consumer products can be traced to research and development conducted at large-scale by some of the world’s largest industrial firms.
Greener Offerings in Consumer Foods are Growing Rapidly, in Addition to Household Products
As younger generations such as Generation Y (Millennials) become more important segments in the consumer base, evolving attitudes are having a very profound effect on many of the day-to-day purchases made by households worldwide. This is driving change, making new demands on retailers and manufacturers alike, and creating new opportunities for those companies that are nimble enough to take advantage of them. In food products, consumers are worried about nutrition, the source of ingredients, the effects of chemical ingredients on their bodies, and in particular, the safety or health values of the food they give to their children. In nations and regions containing middle to upper-income consumers, this is nothing less than a food industry revolution in the making.
Today, packaged food companies are in full combat mode, redoing recipes and reducing long ingredient lists and purchasing aggressive younger companies that better suit today’s trends, while attempting to evolve their marketing to appeal to the evolving interests of consumers. Many consumers prefer foods that do not include a high number of chemicals, flavorings and additives. Consequently, foods that feature fewer ingredients overall are highlighting that fact on packaging, instead of burying ingredient lists under mandated nutritional information (e.g., CB’s Nuts Peanut Butter with one ingredient only). Kraft, for example, is removing synthetic colors and artificial preservatives from its mac and cheese products. A long line of restaurants and food companies have announced that they are migrating to using chicken and other meats that have not been raised on feed that uses certain antibiotics. Tyson has announced it will no longer feed its chickens with human antibiotics. Hershey is removing artificial ingredients from its milk chocolates. This isn’t merely a trend, it’s a mass migration of packaged food firms struggling to plug big holes in their leaking ships.
Plunkett Research has recently published two outstanding industry reference tools that will be your guide to evolving consumer markets for greener products made with sustainability in mind:
Plunkett’s Consumer Products, Cosmetics, Hair & Personal Services Almanac 2019
Available to Plunkett Research Online subscribers
See more information about the online edition here.
Also available in Almanac Editions.
Publication Date: February 2019 | Price: $379.99
Printed ISBN: 978-1-62831-483-0
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62831-809-8
See the complete listings of book contents and details here.
Plunkett’s Green Technology (GreenTech) Industry Almanac 2019
Available to Plunkett Research Online subscribers
See more information about the online edition here.
Also available in Almanac Editions.
Publication Date: February 2019 | Price: $379.99
Printed ISBN: 978-1-62831-486-1
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62831-810-4
See the complete listings of book contents and details here.
