Finnish retail company Kesko pilots GS1 2D codes on Pirkka chicken packaging in the fall of 2024, allowing consumers to access extensive product information. Infine produced sustainability data to the product pages.
For Infine, the goal was to explore consumer interest in sustainability information and determine efficient and scalable ways to provide this data.
The GS1 2D code links the product to its information
The current barcode, found on nearly every product, will soon be complemented globally by GS1 2D code. The new code enables product-specific pages, allowing consumers to easily access various product details and additional information like recipes from the code on the product package.
These product-specific pages also create a new opportunity to leverage sustainability information as a decision-making aid for consumers.
Reliable sustainability information at a glance
Consumers seek sustainability information to support their purchasing decisions. According to a survey by the Finnish Commerce Federation, 54% of Finns are more likely to choose a product labeled as environmentally friendly or ethically sourced. Sustainability data adds value and guides sustainable purchasing decisions.
Effective sustainability communication is challenging. Consumers want information quickly and in an accessible format. They prefer concise details — and in a way that helps them make purchasing decisions right there in the store.
For publishers of sustainability information — whether retail chains, suppliers, or manufacturers —data should be automatable and scalable. Producing sustainability information product by product would be labor-intensive and challenging to compare.
Automated consumer-friendly communication
Structured and comparable sustainability communication on product pages is an entirely new service. There is no established consensus on the content, presentation, or sources of sustainability information yet.
Infine and Kesko’s pilot project included building a sustainability data model for broiler products. Poultry production involves complex interdependencies—for example, the growth rate of broiler breeds affects the optimal growth conditions. The data model must also consider energy, water, and other essential factors for broiler production. It should also be sufficiently general to describe different products within the same category using a consistent framework. This is crucial for automated data production.
Logical and clear product data models facilitate consumer-friendly sustainability information. The model aims to define necessary research for classifying sustainability data and identify various sources from which conclusions can be drawn for analysis.
In the project, the initial version of product-specific sustainability data was based on GS1 Synkka (GS1 Global Standard) product information. Finland is a pioneer in the global GS1 network, where product information flows through the Synkka product information system.
Infine’s software was used for the sustainability analysis of broiler products. By combining scientifically based logic with numerous independent and publicly recognized data sources (such as organizations, academia, governments, the UN, and other international bodies), Infine provides a comprehensive understanding of sustainability from publicly available product information.
Infine’s software automatically generates sustainability profiles for consumer goods across nine dimensions, using traffic light classification.
Product analyses are conducted dimensionally based on a life cycle perspective. This provides an opportunity to view product sustainability data from various angles, such as considering human rights risks in primary production. When all of a company’s products have been evaluated, the entire business is simultaneously assessed, making the software also relevant for ESG and CSRD needs.
The compilation and presentation of sustainability information in practical test
As part of the pilot, Infine’s sustainability data model was expanded to include a separate dimension for animal welfare, which had not previously been a distinct component in Infine’s assessment model. It encompasses essential information related to animal welfare, such as the animals’ growth environment, feed origin, and feeding practices.
Infine’s sustainability experts developed the product data model using the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) definition of broiler welfare and related factors in production, as well as the European Chicken Commitment (ECC) commitment to improving broiler production animal welfare.
Since GS1 product data does not yet allow for specific analyses related to animal welfare, we obtained information from public sources and requested it from suppliers.
During the project, we learned that obtaining sustainability data can be challenging. Sometimes data is only available in non-structured formats or may not be available as needed. Therefore, structured primary data directly from food producers or distributors is valuable for analyzing and presenting complex sustainability information in a scalable manner.
Completely automated sustainability analysis based on text-based data from different locations is not currently feasible.
Scalable presentation of sustainability content
As a result of the project, we created a structured product data model for broiler products that adheres to European standards. Simultaneously, we explored the technical capability of bringing various data sources from the customer into Infine’s system, as well as new ways to analyze, enrich, and produce structured information from different sources.
However, obtaining specific, comprehensive text-based sustainability information related to broiler production required expert work and could not be fully automated during the pilot. Nevertheless, we must efficiently provide consumers with cost-effective information, avoiding bottlenecks in its creation.
Efficient, consumer-friendly, and scalable sustainability data production is achievable by focusing on automated data creation based on core product information and presenting essential data in graphical formats. This became possible through Infine’s pilot experience and the development of the Sustainability Score.
Infine’s Sustainability Score provides consumers with easily digestible information. It evaluates products dimensionally, and this approach is already feasible using Infine’s Sustainability Data Service enterprise software. In the fall, Infine pilots sustainability scores that can be embedded directly on customer websites, allowing consumers to view them on a product-by-product basis.
In this pilot project, sustainability information was initially created in text format, providing insights into the challenges and opportunities of data production. The project is crucial for Infine, as the insights gained from consumer needs and data sources have elevated our communication about sustainability. The results of consumer reactions and the use of 2D codes will continue to guide Infine’s product development.