“Infine” derives from the Latin phrase “in fine” meaning “finally,” or “at last.”
A survey conducted by the Retail Research Association at the end of last year shows that about half of Finns feel that the sustainability actions of retail chains influence their purchasing decisions. Specifically, 54 percent of Finns say they are more likely to choose a product branded as environmentally friendly or ethically sourced. Given that well over half (63%) of Finns experience post-purchase satisfaction after making environmentally friendly purchases, from a business perspective, growth and value should lie in sustainable products. But of course, it’s not so simple.
When Infine was founded six years ago, in August 2018, our goal was to evaluate product sustainability for consumers. Initially, the business was planned to come from the affi-market – we thought we could just scan, for example, all of Amazon’s sustainable products into one site as a collection for interested consumers. At the time, consumer research indicated that about 50% of consumers were not only interested in sustainability but also willing to change their behavior accordingly. Yet even today, actions are not in line with words, because if they were, the market would have changed much more rapidly in the last six years. Wouldn’t it?
There is one massive obstacle to this market shift. The same obstacle Infine faced and a move to B2B SaaS, the business software that defines product sustainability, was inevitable. This obstacle is the lack of product data.
In the textile industry, there is almost no product data at all. For example, as a member of the steering group for the massive Finnish fashion industry project Finix, I have observed how textile sustainability has been studied, discussed and improved across five different research areas, developing a Shades of Green assessment model similar to Infine’s. Through Finix and a few data discovery exercises, we learned that only a select few have accurate product data on textiles. In most cases, the information is completely lacking. The most striking example is errors in existing material data. Out of 81 samples purchased from Finnish fabric stores, 11 were found to have fiber compositions different from what was claimed. This was discovered in laboratory studies conducted by Aalto University, published under the title “Identification of Cellulose Textile Fibers.” So even a 100% cotton label on a product is not necessarily trustworthy.
Although we have yet to pilot our sustainability information software for household goods, I suspect the situation there is similar to textilesI am more hopeful for hardware store products—construction involves strength calculations, weather resistance requirements, and a knowledgeable user base, so I believe that a copper nail has to be a copper nail for it to sel. And it must be labeled as such. That’s why Infine is considering entering the hardware store market next. Additionally, building regulations requiring sustainability analyses add pressure in this sector, but more on that another time or one-on-one if you’re interested in a pilot. Currently, Infine is focused on foodstuffs, as they must have accurate ingredient lists for food safety. This means that the sustainability data can be managed using Infine software. The global product information standards created by GS1 also help.
This brings us back to the starting point: consumers’ desire to make sustainable purchasing decisions, which is why we will start publishing food sustainability scores this fall. Initially, we will release them in a B2B environment to gather necessary feedback and improve the underlying product information directly with suppliers if needed. Our goal is not to create blacklists but to help consumers who want to make sustainable choices do so. Also coming alongside the barcode are 2D codes, which need sustainability info for the individual product pages behind them. Automating the production of this information is essential, as producing it through expert work would be too labor-intensive. Our sustainability scoring will meet this need as well.
We will create sustainability scores across various dimensions and use an expanding set of criteria for scoring. The selected dimensions are based on comparisons of various classification systems and taxonomies, considering the current form of the ESRS standard used as the basis for CSRD reporting. If you’ve used Infine’s software before, you’ll notice that nutrition and animal welfare have been added as new dimensions. Sustainability scores for foodstuffs will be given in the following dimensions:
- Climate change: Covering key aspects of climate change adaptation and mitigation, from carbon footprints to science-based climate targets and the transition to renewable energy.
- Biodiversity: Includes themes related to ecosystem protection and biodiversity conservation, such as deforestation, land use, eutrophication, pesticide use, and pollution.
- Water use: Covers themes related to the protection of aquatic ecosystems and sustainable use of water resources, from production water use and its reduction to local water impacts and eutrophication of water bodies.
- Circular economy: Includes actions that accelerate the transition to a circular economy and keep raw materials in circulation as long as possible. It considers the use of recycled materials, recyclability of materials, and waste-related aspects.
- People & Society: Addresses themes related to the realisation of human rights and ensuring decent work in the value chain, also taking into account affected communities and society, as well as the consumer perspective.
- Health & Safety: Covers aspects related to the nutritional quality of food, food safety, and food security.
- Animal Welfare: Considers themes related to meeting the species-specific behavioral needs of animals, species-specific feeding and food origin, humane treatment, and the use of antibiotics and steroids.
If you are a representative of a Finnish food company and would like to know more about sustainability scoring for consumers, please fill in the form below. I’ll add you to the mailing list to be notified when the first scores are available for business customers to view.
We at Infine will be on vacation for the whole month of July, so I wish you a very happy summer!
