Starting this autumn, the Eco-score at Colruyt Group will have a new name: Green-score. The French consortium that manages the label is implementing this name change and expanding the scale to six colours and letters.
Eliminating confusion
Colruyt Group introduced the Eco-score, a guide that helps shoppers make conscious, sustainable purchasing decisions, in the spring of 2021. The label was developed by a consortium of independent French players, including Yuka, Open Food Facts and Eco2. The consortium changed the name to Green Score because the European organic association IFOAM had argued that the term “eco” could cause confusion with organic food in some countries.
The name change also involves a slight adjustment to the scale, which will be expanded to six colours and letters instead of five. A dark red colour with the letter F has been added for products with a poor Green Score. On the dark green side of the spectrum, a distinction is made between A and A+ to indicate products with the lowest environmental impact.
High brand awareness
Colruyt Group is also participating in the name change. “It’s a matter of trust,” says Veerle Poppe, responsible for the Green Score at Colruyt Group. “We have been working with the French consortium since the very beginning of the Eco-score and we continue to believe in the usefulness of the label. We can see that it really works, also in our country. With a brand awareness of 51% and a trust rating of 72%, the score is the second best-known label in Belgium after the Nutri-score, as our own market research shows.”
From 1 November, the Green Score will be introduced in the Xtra app, on the websites and in the in-store communications of the various store formats. By 31 October, references to the Eco Score will have disappeared from all these channels. During this period, Colruyt Group will launch an advertising campaign to facilitate the transition to the Green Score, introduce the new scale and remind customers about the sustainable savings programme.
The packaging of 940 Boni products with the label will be gradually adapted – Colruyt Group expects this to take two years. Online, where even more products carry the score, the name will also be changed everywhere. The new label will remain linked to a sustainable savings programme in the Xtra app, Colruyt Group’s loyalty programme.
