Exploring consumer behaviour on carbon labelled food products: evidence from a survey on the case of sandwich production and consumption in UK

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorImran, Noor
dc.contributor.authorKumar, Mukesh
dc.contributor.authorJagtap, Sandeep
dc.contributor.authorTrollman, Hana
dc.contributor.authorGupta, Sumit
dc.contributor.authorGarcia-Garcia, Guillermo
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-01T13:58:22Z
dc.date.available2025-07-01T13:58:22Z
dc.date.freetoread2025-07-01
dc.date.issued2025-06-01
dc.date.pubOnline2025-04-22
dc.description.abstractBy assessing carbon footprints and raising awareness of carbon labelling, the food sector is setting long-term targets to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate the transition to low-carbon food production. Carbon labelling, also known as carbon labelling, informs customers about a product's production, distribution, and disposal carbon emissions. This study examines how customers view carbon labelling and how it affects their purchases. The study also examines the complex food industry, identifying the biggest carbon emitters and proposing sustainable alternatives. The study collects qualitative and quantitative data using mixed methodologies. An overview of the literature shows how carbon labelling promotes sustainable consumption. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate two sandwich recipes' carbon footprints, focusing on emissions per item. LCA results indicated that carbon footprint of a cheese and mayonnaise sandwich ranged between 700 and 750 g CO2 eq, while a ham and cheese sandwich ranged between 1053 and 1070 g CO2 eq., and the primary contributors for these emissions were ingredient production, packaging and energy consumption. A sandwich maker partnership simplifies case study data collection, providing a complete carbon footprint analysis throughout production. This study suggests ways to minimise food industry carbon emissions for a sustainable future. Consumer knowledge and relevance of carbon labelling vary, according to our results. Survey findings revealed that 68.6 % of respondents recognise the significance of carbon labelling, however, only 26.9 % reported that their purchasing decisions are influenced by carbon labelling. This indicated a gap between consumer awareness and behavioural change. Consumers are concerned about carbon footprints; thus, carbon labels affect shopping decisions differently. This study suggests that consumer education, standardisation of carbon labelling and recipe modifications could increase effectiveness of carbon labelling in the food industry and its potential to change consumer behaviour towards greener choices and lower carbon footprints.
dc.description.journalNameJournal of Agriculture and Food Research
dc.description.sponsorshipGuillermo Garcia-Garcia acknowledges the Grant ‘Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship’ with Grant agreement ID: 101052284.
dc.identifier.citationImran N, Kumar M, Jagtap S, et al., (2025) Exploring consumer behaviour on carbon labelled food products: evidence from a survey on the case of sandwich production and consumption in UK. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, Volume 21, June 2025, Article number 101937en_UK
dc.identifier.eissn2666-1543
dc.identifier.elementsID672884
dc.identifier.issn2666-1543
dc.identifier.paperNo101937
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2025.101937
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/24094
dc.identifier.volumeNo21
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevieren_UK
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325003084?via%3Dihub
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectLife Cycle Assessment (LCA)en_UK
dc.subjectCarbon labellingen_UK
dc.subjectCarbon footprintsen_UK
dc.subjectConsumer perceptionen_UK
dc.subjectFood industryen_UK
dc.subject41 Environmental Sciencesen_UK
dc.subject4104 Environmental Managementen_UK
dc.subject12 Responsible Consumption and Productionen_UK
dc.titleExploring consumer behaviour on carbon labelled food products: evidence from a survey on the case of sandwich production and consumption in UKen_UK
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.subtypeJournal Article
dcterms.dateAccepted2025-04-20

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Exploring_consumer_behaviour-2025.pdf
Size:
1.83 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Publisher version
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.63 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download

Collections

Staff publications (MMD)