A poll of 250 businesspeople within the UK was carried out by Gousto, a British meal kit retailer who announced in September 2021 that they had become a certified B Corp. The results they received back were troubling in regards to sustainability, and the results show that it is mainly down to the cost-of-living crisis.
When asked if environmental sustainability was a priority for their business, worryingly, a third answered that it wasn’t currently a priority within their business. With only 17% claiming that they wanted to maintain their environmental credentials when asked about what their near-term focusses are.
Due to the cost-of-living crisis currently facing the UK, Gousto have announced that the results they have received are understandable. This is because money is having to be put elsewhere into these businesses in order to stay afloat, such as on rising energy bills, and less money is being put into sustainable strategies. This means that those businesses that had pledged to be more sustainable are now having to backtrack, as they can’t afford to make these sustainable changes.
Gousto simultaneously polled 2,015 members of the general public, the results they received were highly in favour of businesses carrying on down a sustainable path by taking environmental action and continuing to stick to their sustainable strategies.
…2,015 members of the general public, were highly in favour of businesses carrying on down a sustainable path…
The general public also appear to be worried, not only about how the cost-of-living crisis will affect themselves, but also how it will affect businesses and the environment. Their main concern appears to be that businesses will begin to backtrack and that this will have detrimental effects on the environment, with 78% within the poll expressing this concern. There does however seem to be a reason for consumers to be concerned as businesses are beginning to backtrack on their sustainable promises, as suggested in the results of Gousto’s accompanying poll.
