S10 - Session O1 - Shades of sustainability - Is there room for a new sustainability label in fruit production?

Authors: Heike Zoe Heuschkel *, Eike Luedeling

We use the development of a new sustainability label in German fruit production as a case study to conduct an ex-ante assessment of consumer acceptance of a new label, as well as the prospective impacts of such a label at the farm level. We present all the results of the survey and the specific conditions under which a new label can be successful. Labels are a proven means to accomplish several objectives in the field of sustainable resource management. Among these, we explored the role of a label in satisfying consumer information needs and in promoting innovation in a production system. The acceptance of an innovation such as a new label can be decisively promoted if it corresponds to the habits, norms and needs of customers. We therefore asked 1000 German consumers what they expect from a novel sustainability label for fruit, what developments they would welcome in fruit production and where they see the greatest need for action. We developed and launched an online questionnaire covering all three areas of sustainability as well as the cross-cutting issue of governance. The results of the survey will be incorporated into a decision support model that will provide recommendations for the further development of the label, in particular for the weighting of the individual sustainability criteria and the associated evaluation criteria. The model will also allow us to make suggestions to participating fruit farms for innovations in production methods, quality management and marketing strategies.