Swedish food brand Felix’s commitment to climate-friendly production and low-carbon-impact product lines wasn’t breaking through to its core demographic. So it wanted to encourage its customers to consider shopping more sustainably – and to recognise that Felix products were a cost-effective way to do so. Contending with COVID-19 restrictions, we orchestrated an ambitious, Felix-branded public activation in the middle of Stockholm’s shopping district, garnering not just international coverage but acclaim from retail, food experts and environmentalists for Felix’s educational approach, which showed customers the relative climate costs of the different foods they eat.

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 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’ would be (Klimatbutiken) 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 each purchase, to reflect upon later.

Our strategy was informed by intensive ethnographic research tracking six Swedish families (including video diaries and virtual visits); a survey of 1,500 Swedish consumers; and interviews with five of Sweden’s leading sustainability and consumer-behaviour experts.

It told us that our entire strategy had to focus on clear 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, helping customers make better choices. And loaned iPads would enable shoppers to track how much they were ‘spending’. Against a tight timeline, we even managed to source an actual cashier’s machine to print out in our fake CO2e currency.

Journalists were sent the weekly allowance of the currency in advance along with an overview of the activation.

Over four months, our integrated team managed everything – from location-scouting to the design of branded materials, from dressing the shop to actually running it for two days.

Stock was a vital focus – ensuring enough variety for it to be a ‘real’ shopping experience, including a balance of climate-friendly vs. non-climate-friendly to give our shoppers dilemmas.

As the October launch approached, one further hurdle emerged: Our shop would open during a COVID-19 surge. Pandemic protocols meant that advance promotion, media invitations and educational visits had to be downscaled. It limited us to 44 visitors per day but we turned this into a positive, supporting every customer with their own personal shopper – from our and Felix’s teams – to discuss climate-conscious shopping.

We had queues of people waiting outside and even saw repeat visits – parents so impressed by the concept’s educative value that they returned with their children.

Despite the restrictions, this small, local idea reverberated around the world, with coverage appearing in 30+ countries, including China, Germany, Japan, Mexico and the US; including CNN and German news show, Tagesschau. The Store ignited a conversation on social, with comments from shoppers, influencers and media extending the discussion beyond Sweden.

Shopper comments included: “I didn’t expect this when walking in. The visuals with the three different bags explained everything so well. I learned so much more compared to, say, a lecture.”

Real-world behaviour change results showed up in the final stock count. With customers encouraged to make decisions purely on climate value, Felix’s most famous product – its best-selling meatballs – amazingly remained on the shelves, whereas its new, plant-based meatball alternatives sold out. Shoppers clearly learned that the classic dish they had eaten since childhood might not, after all, be the best choice for their own children’s future.

Business results:

· 17% growth in sales in climate label vegetarian products Q4 2020, YOY

· 11% growth in overall sales Q4 2020, YOY

· To meet increased demand for its existing climate-friendly product lines and launch new climate-friendly, food favourites, the company is now expanding capacity at its production facilities

Although Felix originally viewed this as a one-off awareness-raising initiative, the team was so pleased with the result that they have now made the interactive customer experience a cornerstone of their forward strategy: A digital version of the Climate Store, supported by social, is to be launched spring 2021.