In this campaign, we introduced The Climate Store – the world’s first grocery shop in which the ‘price’ of food would be based on its carbon footprint.

To achieve this, we used publicly available data about the climate impact of different produce – which was hard for consumers to make use of in their everyday life – and turned it to something everyone can relate to: the price.

By redefining one of the most central parts of the shopping experience, we enabled consumers to understand the climate impact of different produce, directly at the point of sales.

With over 95% unaided brand recall for its 150+ food products, from frozen meatballs to ketchup, Felix can be considered ‘the Heinz of Sweden.’

But recently, Felix had been left behind in environmental food retail. As a safe, ‘everyday’ brand, its products were not an obvious choice for climate-conscious shoppers. Yet the company had a great story – Felix has invested long-term in a range of climate-supporting measures, such as innovating carbon-friendly ready meals and adding ‘Low Climate Impact’ labels to products. But the message wasn’t getting through to its most important demographic – 30-40 year olds with young children.

Our objective, therefore, was to find a way to encourage Swedish shoppers to see Felix as a cost-effective way to shop sustainably. It required a balanced approach, however: innovative enough to cut through in a saturated sustainability market, but practical enough to be a genuine help to busy families.

Our research told us Felix’s demographic really wanted to shop for climate-friendly food brands, but they found the sustainability information too confusing and – perhaps as a result – believed sustainable grocery shopping to be too expensive.

Our inspiration was to link these two issues – clear information and cost. ‘The Climate Store’ (Klimatbutiken) would be the world’s first grocery store where the ‘price’ of each item would be its carbon footprint. Customers could shop at this pop-up and compare a range of products priced in ‘carbon dioxide equivalent’ (CO2e) currency, ‘paying’ at the till using special CO2e banknotes. To truly consider the impact of their choices, everyone would have a limit of 18.9 kg CO2e – the maximum personal weekly allowance if we are to meet the 2030 Paris Agreement goals. They would leave with their groceries and a receipt itemising the CO2e of purchases, to reflect upon later.

April/May 2020 - Qualitative & quantitative research

May 2020 - Brief & debrief

May/June 2020 - Planning & dev creative routes

June 2020 - Idea presentation

June 2020 - Sign-off & production plan

August 2020 - Production of assets

September 2020 - Production of assets

October 2020 - Building the Climate store

1st–2ndOctober 2020 - Opening of the Climate store

October–November 2020 - Media outreach

The store was a fully-stocked pop-up with enough different types of produce to allow shoppers to do a full week’s food shopping: Popular Felix products such as ready-made meals, meatballs and ketchup shared shelf space with staples such as pasta, fresh vegetables, eggs and milk. Every item was carefully chosen for being a part of a standard Swedish shopping basket. Based on CO2e values generated by Swedish research institute RISE, we then calculated a bespoke pricing system and currency to reflect the carbon footprint of different produce. Against a tight timeline, we even managed to source an actual cashier’s machine to print out in our fake CO2e currency. With the help of loaned iPads on which shoppers could record which items they placed in their shopping basket, they could track how much CO2e they were ‘spending’.

We also supported this shopper experience with an extra layer of information. For the walls of the store, for example, we would create guidance posters on the climate trade-offs shoppers had to consider (e.g., one steak = one entire shopping bag of vegetables). New colour-coded packaging for all products (brown/orange/green) would indicate relative climate impacts, all helping customers make better choices.

Shoppers reported a significant upsurge in climate understanding after visiting The Climate Store (e.g., “The visuals with the three bags explained everything so well. I learned so much more compared to, say, a lecture.”) They changed behaviour too: The stock count showed, incredibly, that Felix’s top-selling product (its meatballs) attracted little interest in The Climate Store, whereas its new, plant-based meatball alternatives sold out.

Following acclaim on social, plus coverage in 30+ countries, our success has now shown up in Felix’s financial results and forward strategy: Q4 2020 (YOY), Felix saw a remarkable 17% growth in sales of climate-label vegetarian products and 11% growth in overall sales. To meet increased demand for its climate-friendly product lines, Felix is now expanding capacity at its production facilities.