27
• Generating new ideas thanks to the motivation of the team to work on
sustainability. It is however important to understand the expectations of the team:
How do they perceive sustainability? What would they like to learn during the
process? How is their work valued?
• Limiting risks by choosing appropriate materials. Which material price will be
less infl uenced by the future price of energy? Which materials have an availability that is ensured for the coming 20 years?
The following example shows that one fi rst needs to defi ne the value to be created with sustainability, before launching a sustainability action.
2.1.1 The Liberté Case Study
Liberté, a dairy company based in Québec implemented in 2008 an ecodesign strategy, working on various products, but in particular on a drinkable organic yogurtbased beverage that was to be sold in a cardboard packaging. Liberté discovered
through a life cycle assessment that this new packaging had a signifi cantly lower
impact on the environment than the plastic bottle traditionally found on the
market.
The product, launched in 2008, was positioned as an ecodesigned product
(organic milk and packaging optimized with a life cycle assessment). Unfortunately,
the launch of the product was not the commercial success that the company’s management had anticipated. Several reasons can be identifi ed:
• In some cases, retailers and consumers were negatively surprised by the packaging design that was different than the industry norms for such a product. This is
even though the product was sold among the organic products, where buyers are
relatively well informed on sustainability issues.
• The Producteurs de lait du Québec (Milk Producers of Liberté) were subsidizing
single portion dairy products with an additional premium for drinkable products
packaged in a resealable plastic bottles favouring “on-the-go” consumption.
• Consumers (especially young children) were not used to the new packaging and
had some diffi culty opening them.
The learnings for Liberté were the following. They were able to determine
hotspots linked to the environmental impacts of their product and were capable to
mobilize the necessary resources and collaborate with suppliers to address them.
However, although meeting the objective of a more sustainable packaging, the
company failed to understand consumer’s perceptions and needs. A better link
between R&D and marketing needs to be established to test market perceptions in
respect to these new products. This is especially true where such products counteract existing market trends, and in such cases, it is necessary to understand the likely
consumer acceptance and whether consumer education or other actions need to be
focussed on.
3 Life Cycle Management as a Way to Operationalize Sustainability Within…
• Generating new ideas thanks to the motivation of the team to work on
sustainability. It is however important to understand the expectations of the team:
How do they perceive sustainability? What would they like to learn during the
process? How is their work valued?
• Limiting risks by choosing appropriate materials. Which material price will be
less infl uenced by the future price of energy? Which materials have an availability that is ensured for the coming 20 years?
The following example shows that one fi rst needs to defi ne the value to be created with sustainability, before launching a sustainability action.
2.1.1 The Liberté Case Study
Liberté, a dairy company based in Québec implemented in 2008 an ecodesign strategy, working on various products, but in particular on a drinkable organic yogurtbased beverage that was to be sold in a cardboard packaging. Liberté discovered
through a life cycle assessment that this new packaging had a signifi cantly lower
impact on the environment than the plastic bottle traditionally found on the
market.
The product, launched in 2008, was positioned as an ecodesigned product
(organic milk and packaging optimized with a life cycle assessment). Unfortunately,
the launch of the product was not the commercial success that the company’s management had anticipated. Several reasons can be identifi ed:
• In some cases, retailers and consumers were negatively surprised by the packaging design that was different than the industry norms for such a product. This is
even though the product was sold among the organic products, where buyers are
relatively well informed on sustainability issues.
• The Producteurs de lait du Québec (Milk Producers of Liberté) were subsidizing
single portion dairy products with an additional premium for drinkable products
packaged in a resealable plastic bottles favouring “on-the-go” consumption.
• Consumers (especially young children) were not used to the new packaging and
had some diffi culty opening them.
The learnings for Liberté were the following. They were able to determine
hotspots linked to the environmental impacts of their product and were capable to
mobilize the necessary resources and collaborate with suppliers to address them.
However, although meeting the objective of a more sustainable packaging, the
company failed to understand consumer’s perceptions and needs. A better link
between R&D and marketing needs to be established to test market perceptions in
respect to these new products. This is especially true where such products counteract existing market trends, and in such cases, it is necessary to understand the likely
consumer acceptance and whether consumer education or other actions need to be
focussed on.
3 Life Cycle Management as a Way to Operationalize Sustainability Within…