By Abhijit Bhattacharya
Environmental changes and other transitions are making people all over the world take note of their lifestyles. The desire to live and eat clean has become a key priority today. This change in approach to living and products that people consume on a daily basis has led to the emergence of some trends that are expected to grow bigger in 2023. Let’s take a look!
Willingness to spend more on clean – Until now, the biggest challenge for people keen to switch to clean living was the perception that such products are too costly to use regularly. However, the pandemic has led to a rethink of this approach. Millennials and Generation Z consumers are prioritizing their health and wellness over other areas. They are more than willing to spend a little extra on a product if it comes with the assurance of being certified natural and free of artificial ingredients, and non-recyclable materials.
Greater emphasis on ingredients – Until now, the focus on health and wellness meant that consumers trusted brands to do the thinking and purchased products that the brands offered. However, now there is almost a worldwide emphasis on looking at the finer print and understanding what exactly is a food item or a fashion product made of. People are not only mindful of the quality of the ingredients, but also keen to know about the supply chains or where the ingredients are sourced from. In fact, label consciousness is most prevalent in countries with some of the largest populations in the world such as India (77%), Indonesia (69%), and China (69%). All of these countries have conscious audience levels above the global average of 58%, and that’s a very healthy sign for the times to come.
Sustainable packaging – Doing away with plastics is not just an initiative undertaken by governments any more. There has been significant awareness about the harms of various forms of plastics and another metallic packaging. Consumers are again more willing to buy from brands that offer eco-friendly packaging or have demonstrated waste disposal strategies.
Demand for recycled products – Consumers are appreciative of brands that use recycled materials in making their products, especially fashion. We are seeing the emergence of products by even larger brands that feature recycled plastic and metallic content. Fashion products made out of recycled plastic bottles, pouches, and polythene bags are gaining traction on clean living e-commerce websites.
Green is going to be not just about food – Clean living consumerism is expanding beyond eating vegan food, and consumers are looking at a holistic carbon-neutral and plant-based lifestyle. Chemical-free detergents, cleaning products, soaps, recycled fabrics, solar power, furniture made of recycled wood, and even traditional building materials that don’t include cement are going to witness a steady rise in demand in the year ahead and beyond.
Verification of clean claims – Until now, consumers had to go by the clean claims made by the brand. If a brand said that a product contained pure herbal ingredients then the customers usually had no way of verifying that claim. However, that’s where the biggest trend is emerging. Clean-living marketplaces in the Asia-Pacific region are setting new benchmarks by offering 100% platform-certified and assured products in categories such as fashion, groceries, daily needs, apparel, etc. Consumers can buy thousands of products from hundreds of brands that are certified as vegan, toxin-free, preservatives-free, eco-friendly, gluten-free, cruelty-free, etc.
These platforms are not just promoting whatever the manufacturers claim, but have themselves deployed quality and credibility measurement mechanisms for complete transparency. The usage of AI, ML, and scrapping-based algorithms to give a clean score to a product before it is sold, is the new industry benchmark. The certification claims by brands are verified by the platforms through their association with hundreds of Indian and international certifying authorities. These platforms also deploy adequate human expertise to evaluate the clean score, certification status and other parameters and handpick the products that are introduced to the customers.
Conclusion
Sustainability can’t be a choice, but a mass movement. However, to ensure that clean living options are available and affordable for every conscious consumer, it is important that global supply chains are established, and economies of scale are introduced to the market. That’s where the widespread adoption of clean-living trends in 2023, is going to further democratize access and availability. Essentially, the vision of living in harmony with nature, and our planet, is going to be the biggest trend of the times to come.
(Abhijit Bhattacharya is the Founder & CBO, OneGreen. Views expressed re personal)
