Last week I did an interview with Jo Kent from CNN on a story about consumers in China ‘going green’. The story by Emily Chan, focused on Tsingtao beer one of China’s leading brands who are accused of violating environmental standards.
Would Chinese consumers ‘go green’ — if given the choice?
Qingdao, China (CNN) — In Qingdao city on the eastern coast of China, Tsingtao beer is the pride of the people.
The brewery is the central attraction. More than 3,000 wide-eyed tourists visit every day, filing off buses to marvel at the production site of their favorite beer.
What many do not know is that the Tsingtao Brewery Group was recently accused of violating environmental standards. It is just one of 20 companies named on a “polluters’ blacklist,” including major companies such as Hitachi, Philips and China’s most popular instant noodle maker, Master Kong.
With concerns about health and product quality growing in China, consumers are looking to buy more safe green products. However companies need to make sure that they are not just jumping on the green bandwagon. And that their products are making a real and measurable effort to be environmentally responsible. Not only in terms of product quality and ingredients, but also in terms manufacturing processes and corporate employee behaviour.
Early next month Landor will be releasing its Green Brands survey for 2010. It will be interesting to see what issues Chinese consumers care most about and how many of the current brands are addressing these concerns.