Migros rates own products with sustainability scale
Migros now includes a sustainability scale on all packaging for its own brands. This rates the various dimensions of sustainability, such as animal welfare or climate, with 1 to 5 stars. This is intended to create transparency for customers.
With the motto "We are not 100% sustainable. But 100% transparent", Migros will in future evaluate all products from its 250 or so own brands in various dimensions of sustainability. This should make it immediately clear to customers that an M-Classic chicken, for example, scores well in animal welfare but less so in climate. The new M-Check makes this contradiction transparent, explains Marketing Manager Matthias Wunderlin: "We don't hide the negative sustainability aspects of a product either. On the one hand, this enables our customers to shop in a self-determined manner; on the other hand, this complete transparency is also an incentive for Migros."
Compass in the sustainability jungle
The sustainability scale works like a hotel rating: If the product receives five stars in animal welfare, for example, it does very well; if it receives only one star, there is a lot of potential for improvement. For this, up to ten different factors are assessed and rated, including outdoor exercise, housing, the use of medications or transport. The entire life cycle assessment of the product is included in the climate calculation: From cultivation to the use of water and fertilizer, to transport and packaging. The star rating is based on the entire Migros product range. A piece of beef therefore never achieves more than one star in climate because of the high greenhouse gas emissions compared to a cucumber.
According to a Migros statement, the evaluation system is based on scientific principles and was developed by Migros partners. The evaluation criteria can be viewed online.
M-Check already on over 100 products
The first products are currently being given the M-Check, starting with animal products such as meat and milk. The areas of animal welfare and climate are assessed. Other dimensions of sustainability will be added later, according to the statement. Migros plans to equip all of its own brands - including non-food - with the new M-Check by 2025, which corresponds to around 80 percent of the entire Migros range.
