The economic, environmental and social performance of European certified food

To identify whether EU certified food - here organic and geographical indications - is more sustainable than a conventional reference, we developed 25 indicators covering the three sustainability pillars. Original data was collected on 52 products at farm, processing and retail levels, allowing the estimation of circa 2000 indicator values. Most strikingly, we show that, in our sample, certified food outperforms its non-certified reference on most economic and social indicators. On major environmental indicators - carbon and water footprint - their performance is similar. Although certified food is 61% more expensive, the extra-performance per euro is similar to classical policy interventions to improve diet sustainability such as subsidies or taxes. Cumulatively, our findings legitimate the recent initiatives by standards to cover broader sustainability aspects.

Automated summary

Through comparing certified food and non-certified food in terms of economic, social, and environmental performance, it was found that certified food outperforms non-certified food in most indicators, especially in economic and social aspects. However, their performance is similar in major environmental indicators. Despite the higher cost of certified food, the extra performance per euro is similar to traditional policy interventions for improving diet sustainability.