Asia-Pacific consumers want
to shop sustainably
of shoppers began actively shopping for sustainable products
in the past two years
say they’re willing to pay more for reduced impact on the environment, and even more for healthy products
expect to spend more
on sustainable products in the next three years
45
%
90
%
40
%
Despite their intent, there’s a
notable “say-do gap”—especially
in high-growth markets
While there’s no perfect way to illustrate the disconnect between intent and action, we’ve compared aspirations of selected Asian consumers with the market shares of representative sustainable products
China
For example ...
Vietnam
Singapore
Consumers who rank sustainability as a top-three purchasing criteria for packaged foods
Market share of sustainable packaged foods
54
%
12
%
41
%
3
%
23
%
14
%
Most consumers are misinformed about what’s sustainable
70% of consumers were unable to identify which of several products
had a lower carbon footprint, regardless of their education or sustainable goods spending
Which has a lower carbon footprint?
single-use plastic
vs.
single-use glass
single-use plastic bag
vs.
single-use cotton bag
1 kg of cheese
vs.
milk
imported
cheese
vs.
local
cheese
Five obstacles that trip
up sustainable shoppers
Our consumer survey shows that while higher prices are a challenge, nearly
of obstacles are nonprice,
supply-side factors
49% of consumers believe brands or retailers should
play a primary role in helping shoppers navigate these challenges
Source: Bain Asia-Pacific Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Survey, January 2022 (Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, India, Indonesia, and Philippines; n=16,824)
Companies that invest to close the say-do gap will ease the consumer journey and earn loyal promoters, accelerating sustainability throughout Asia-Pacific
16
%
Lack of available options
Trust of available options
Lack of product range
Less convenient to purchase
Price
21
%
Both are equal
Emissions for transportation are negligible for most
food products
Milk
Cheese production creates around 7X more carbon dioxide than milk
Single-use
plastic bag
A bag made of cotton, a resource-intensive crop, would have to be reused 131X to break even with a plastic bag
Single-use
plastic
The weight of the glass can be up to 40X the weight of plastic, which boosts transportation-related emissions
organic
meat
vs.
inorganic
vegetables
Inorganic
vegetables
Organic and inorganic meat create about the same amount of emissions, while the impact of plant-based products is about 10X
to 50X lower
Incorrect
Correct
Do not know
Notes: Market share data includes products with reduced salt and sugar or which are gluten- and
dairy-free, naturally healthy, and organic as a proxy for all sustainable subcategories in packaged foods
Sources: Bain Asia-Pacific ESG Survey 2022; Euromonitor
21
%
21
%
21
%
