Ethical Consumerism
Report 2021
Can we consume back better?

Can we consume back better?
The Co-op’s unique Ethical Consumerism Report has
tracked total UK ethical expenditure every year for thepast two decades. This year’s Report is released in
the midst of the ongoing pandemic and heightening
urgency of addressing the climate crisis. The Reportposes the question: Can we consume back better?
The Co-op reports that ethical consumer spending andfinance in the UK in 2020 broke through the £100bn markfor the first time, reaching record levels of some £122bn
at the end of 2020. Back in 1999, the total size of ethicalconsumer markets in the UK was just £11.2bn. The morethan ten-fold uplift shows that where businesses provide
ethical choices, and where governments provide helpful
incentives, consumers will respond positively.

In particular, we have seen the most significant growth
in low-carbon home and lifestyle spending in Eco-travel
and Transport, Green Home and Ethical Food and Drink.
Twenty years ago, certification labelling was consideredniche, but now the Fairtrade, RSPCA Freedom Assured
and Rainforest Alliance certification schemes are all wellestablished parts of mainstream consumer decisionmaking and are set to grow in the future.
The emergence of the government’s Net Zero strategy
will drive massive change in how we live our lives. It is
likely to be transformative over the next five years across
categories such as transportation, fuel, power, heat andbuildings, and will inform ethical spending.

20102019

2020% Growth
2019-2020

Ethical Food & Drink

5,421

12,54814,089

12.3%

Green Home

7,644

15,23020,50334.6%

Eco-travel & Transport

1,641

7,071

12,20772.6%

Ethical Personal Products

909

1,6331,898

16.2%

Community

11,11010,56012,155

15.1%

TOTAL ETHICAL SPEND

26,72547,04260,85129.4%

Boycotts

2,485

3,287

3,875

17.9%

Ethical Money

21,947

48,20857,181

18.6%

GRAND TOTAL

51,156

98,536

121,908

23.7%

Our Ethical Consumerism Report is a barometer on consumer
behaviour – and shoppers are turning up the heat by boycotting
businesses which fail to act on ethical or social concerns.
The report is a warning to brands that they must do business abetter way for workers, communities and the planet. But it alsooffers clear evidence to policy-makers that they can positivelyinfluence change.
I had the privilege of attending COP-26 and whilst we can allagree the summit did deliver some progress, the hard yards
begin now. Every business will have a role to play and we’re clearthat a key part of our role is to help educate on how customers
can make a difference by changing how they shop. And weknow that we can achieve greater things together, which is why
we’ve promised with our supermarket counterparts to halve
our environmental impacts by the end of this decade.

Steve Murrells,
CEO of The Co-op GroupKey Findings
Ethical food & drink

Ethical personal products

Ethical food shopping trends reflect the changing dietsof the British consumer with the vegetarian and plantbased alternatives category increasing in sales
by 34%, now worth £1.5bn. Ethical spending on foodand drink played out in other categories too: Fairtradesales showed an increase of 14%, while the sale oforganically certified food grew 13%. Furthermore, freerange egg sales topped over £1bn for the first time.

Ethical personal products, including sustainableclothing, clothes buying for re-use and ethicalcosmetics, also saw an uplift in sales in 2020, almost
reaching £2bn. While it was widely recorded that thefashion industry faced its ups-and-downs in 2020
and the industry continues to deal with Covid-19
ramifications, the resale market greatly benefitted
during this period.

Boycotts

Ethical money

Boycotts have always had an important role to playfor UK consumers in terms of what brands they do or
don’t want to trade with. In 2020 this trend continued
with an 18% rise in boycotts on ethical grounds.

Interest in environmental, social and governance(ESG) issues peaked in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic
fast-tracked investment in ESG funds, heightening
the importance of investors playing a direct role in a
climate transition to a low-carbon economy. 2019-20
saw a 32% increase in investment in ethicalbusinesses and funds, reaching £33bn.

Green Home
Spending on Green Home includes energy-efficientappliances, energy-efficient boilers, ethical cleaningproducts and green electricity tariffs. While thecategory has grown year-on-year, further analysis showsthat spending on eco-friendly alternatives is fallingshort of where we need to be to achieve Net Zero.
For example, household purchases of energy-efficientgas boilers (which in 2020 reached £5bn) reflects stark
comparison to household spending on heat source
pumps, which reached just £130m in sales in 2020.
The biggest winners in this category were Green
Electricity Tariffs which peaked at nearly £8.9bn, anda 22% uplift in sales of ethical cleaning products since2019. Consumer interest in buying for re-use sales also
increased 15.4% from 2019, reaching £837m.
The pandemic impacted sales of energy-efficient lightbulbs which fell in 2020 after the global lockdown andrestrictions disrupted production. However, sales ofLED light bulbs in the UK are expected to increasesignificantly following the UK government ban on
retailing halogen light bulbs from September 2021.

Eco-travel & transport
The biggest ethical spending increase was seen in
the Eco-Travel & Transport sub-category, which saw
an increase of over 72%, largely attributable to thesharp rise (93%) in sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles(AFVs) in which sales exceeded £10bn. Growth islinked to improvements in technology, infrastructure,
government support, decreasing costs of AFVsand choice: there are over 100 plug-in car models
on the UK market. Sales of bikes also performed
well, largely linked to changing transportation
habits during the pandemic.

Ethical personal products
Ethical personal products, including sustainableclothing, clothes buying for re-use and ethicalcosmetics, also saw an uplift in sales in 2020, almost
reaching £2bn. While it was widely recorded that thefashion industry faced its ups-and-downs in 2020 as theindustry continued to deal with Covid-19 ramifications,the resale market greatly benefited during this period.

Local shopping
Some people are motivated by ethical andenvironmental reasons to support local businesses
and their community. The commitment to ‘localism’
is predicted to stay, reflected in the 6% increase in
spend in local shops in 2020.

Average Household Spending per Household:Grand Total
Spend
2010
£1028

Spend
2020
£2189

Growth113%

Growth74%

Ethicalcosmetics
2020

Spend
2010
£20
Spend
2010
£15

£35

Sustainableclothing
2020

Renewableenergy
2020

£33

£331

Spend2010£26

Growth1164%

Sustainable
home products
2020

Growth2%

Ethicaltransport
2020
Spend
2010
£63

Growth124%

Spend
2010
£99

£101

Localshopping
2020

£439

Growth596%£110

Energyefficiency
2020

£306

Spend
2010
£169

Ethical foodand drink
2020
Growth81%

£507

Spend
2010
£209

Growth143%

Growth23%
Spend
2010
£90Ethical Consumerism in the UK, 2010 – 2020
Ethical Food and Drink

2010 £m2019 £m

2020 £m

Organic

1,475

2,324

2,619

Fairtrade

1,094

1,671

1,899

Rainforest Alliance

1,198

3,288

3,568

Free Range Eggs

419

873

1,102

Vegetarian & Plant-based Alternatives

541

1,114

1,490

RSPCA Assured (Freedom Food)

573

2,378

2,593

Sustainable Fish

121

899

818

SUBTOTAL

5,421

12,54814,0892010 £m2019 £m

2020 £m

Energy-Efficient Appliances

2,068

2,998

3,334

Energy-Efficient Boilers

2,332

4,429

5,044

Micro Generation

249

208

146

Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs

43173

163

Heat Pump Installations**

130

Home Insulation Installations***

-146
138

116

Ethical Cleaning Products

4278

95

Sustainable Timber and Paper

1,655

1,499

1,710

Buying for Re-use

823

726837

Green Electricity Tariffs

432

4,836

8,928

SUBTOTAL

7,644

15,23020,503

Eco-travel & Transport

2010 £m2019 £m2020 £m

Alternative Fuel Vehicles

n/a

5,398

10,461Tax Band A Cars

846733558

Bicycles

795

940

1,188

SUBTOTAL

1,641

7,071

12,2072010 £m2019 £m2020 £m

Green Home**new category for 2020 data

Ethical Personal Products***new category for 2020 data

Ethical Clothing

635357

Buying for Re-use – Clothing

321

700

864

Ethical Cosmetics

525880976

SUBTOTAL

909

1,633

1,898

Community

2010 £m2019 £m2020 £m

Local Shopping

2,330

2,896

3,067

Charity Shops468756

746

Charity Donations

8,312

6,907

8,342

SUBTOTAL

11,11010,56012,155

Boycotts

2010 £m2019 £m

2020 £m

Food and Drink

1,084

1,046

1,136

Transport

1,068

1,723

2,119

Personal

333

518

620

SUBTOTAL

2,485

3,287

3,875

2010 £m2019 £m

2020 £m

Ethical Banking

9,043

19,683

20,536

Ethical Investment

11,30025,30033,291Credit Unions

1,552

2,994

3,097

52

230

258

SUBTOTAL

21,947

48,20857,181

GRAND TOTAL

51,156

98,536

121,908

Ethical Money

Ethical Share Issues

This year’s Ethical Markets Report data includes updated figures for 2019 as well as collected financial performance data for 2020.
The research includes 33 datasets covering Ethical Food & Home, Travel & Transport, Personal, Community, Boycotts and Finance.
This includes the addition of two new datasets which monitor heat pump installations and home insulation installations.

Ethics and Sustainability at the Co-op
The story of ethical consumerism in the UK cannot be told without reference to Co-op. Since 1844,the co-operative movement has been built on values of clear social purpose and doing the right thing.
Our vision today is a continuation of this: to use the power of co-operation to create a fairer world.
We have a long history of taking the lead on the issues that matter most to our members, from being one of thefirst businesses recognising the need to tackle climate change to our many ‘Fairtrade firsts’, from our campaigning
for social justice and work to protect human rights for workers, to animal welfare standards that go over and above
legal requirements.
In the face of the climate change crisis global society is facing, in 2021 we launched a Ten-Point Plan that setsout our pathway to achieving net zero by 2040, 10 years ahead of international agreements. From products
and packaging to power and pension fund investments, the plan details how Co-op will reduce the impact ofoperations and products across Food, Funeralcare, Insurance and Power businesses. The plan sets out targets,endorsed by the Science Based Targets Initiative, in line with the carbon reduction that is required to cap global
temperature increases and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. In October 2021, Co-op rebranded allits stores to raise awareness of COP26 with all its customers and members (see the front cover).

About this report
The Ethical Consumerism Report has been produced annually since 1999 and acts as a barometerof ethical spending in the UK.
In this report, ethical consumerism is defined as personal allocation of funds, including consumption
and investment, where choice has been informed by a particular issue – be it human rights, social justice,
the environment or animal welfare.
Community and Charity expenditure includes a combination of charity shop sales and donations tocharities involved in activities such as human rights or animal welfare. Local shopping includes consumer
expenditure in what they consider to be ‘local shops’ within their community, e.g. independent stores.

Further information‘Ethical Consumerism - Can We Consume Back Better?’ was produced by the Co-op, in partnership with
Ethical Consumer.
This booklet represents the authors’ personal opinions and interpretation of the subject and not theviews, opinions or policies of Co-op. This booklet may not be reproduced without the express permissionof Co-op or the authors.
Previous reports are available at:www.ethicalconsumer.org/research-hub/uk-ethical-consumer-markets-report

For further information contact
Rebecca Webb at rebecca.webb@coop.co.uk
Aoife McKernan at aoife.mckernan@coop.co.uk
With thanks to: ABCUL, British Egg Information Service, Charities Aid Foundation, DVLA, Ecovia Intelligence,EIRIS Foundation, GfK Retail and Technology UK, Kantar Worldpanel, Irish League of Credit Unions, Mintel,MSC, Ofgem, RSPCA Assured, SEDBUK, SMMT, Suma Wholefoods, The Fairtrade Foundation, The Grocer,
The Soil Association, YouGov.