Superlist Umwelt: Fleischportionen im Einzelhandel übergroß

Which premium brands can contribute first to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture's Action Plan "Growth of organic production and consumption"?

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture has the ambition to achieve 15% organic farmland in the Netherlands by 2030. Premium brands can play a major role in reaching that goal, but their role is currently still underexposed. The Ministry wants to call on premium brands to source more from Dutch organic agriculture. There are many hundreds of brands available in the Dutch market. A crucial first step, therefore, is to map out which brands are best suited to be approached.

Publication report

UK supermarkets found wanting on sustainability in new Europe-wide ranking

Superlijst Groen: Lidl loopt uit op AH, Plus stijgt, Dirk laatste

Towards climate- and environment-friendly supermarkets across Europe

New climate ranking: Swedish supermarkets lag behind

Meer over de brief aan de formateur (Dutch)

The introduction of a ban on volume promotions in the UK brings momentum to raise the discussion of regulating such marketing in the Netherlands. Volume promotions are all promotions that require the customer to buy more than one product to receive a discount (1+1 free, 3 for the price of 2). Multibuys are proven to lead to overconsumption and do not help customers save money. Marketing unhealthy food effectively influences purchase and consumption behaviour, particularly among children. On the 1st of October, the UK is implementing a revolutionary ban on the use of these promotions on unhealthy food in an attemt to combat rising obesity rates.

The obesity epidemic is not limited to the UK, 1 in 7 children in the Netherlands is overweight of obese. The Netherlands can use the developments in the UK to explore possibilities for similar effects. Questionmark will bring together civil society organisations and scientists to coordinate activities in the Netherlands and put the topic high on the political agenda.

How child friendly are Dutch supermarkets in 2025?

Child friendly supermarkets 2025

Parents who try to make healthy choices for their babies and young children in supermarkets are often misled or face challenges. What children eat at a young age has a major impact on their taste development and long-term health. Supermarkets play a crucial role in this, as almost all food and drinks consumed by children are purchased there. So the question is: to what extent do Dutch supermarkets support children in eating healthy?

Healthy start? The range of food products for children in supermarkets.

Organic at A-brands

The European Union has set a target to grow organic farmland to 25% in 2030. The Netherlands has set a target at 15%. An important means to reach these targets is to raise the demand from the market. A-brands play a crucial role in creating and meeting this demand. 

This project will look into what role organic plays in the sustainability policies of the biggest A-brands and producers. It will provide insight into whether A-brands sell organic products and whether they report on the share of organic of their total products. We will follow up with interviews with several A-brands to learn to what extent organic is and will be part of their sustainability policy. 

Data collection

Which efforts do Dutch supermarkets make to encourage increase the sales of organic food?

Bio Benchmark

The European Union has set a target to grow organic farmland to 25% in 2030. The Netherlands has set a target at 15%. An important means to reach these targets is to raise the demand from the market. Supermarkets play a crucial role in creating this demand. 

Questionmark's Benchmark Bio 2025 will assess supermarkets' efforts to encourage the growth for demand of organic food. The benchmark is part of the broader research program Superlist Green but the resulting publication has a different form. The benchmark can be regarded as an intermediate assessment on a number of indicator specifically looking at organic farming. The indicators for this benchmark are aligned as much as possible with the more general indicators of Superlist Green. The benchmark does not result in a general ranking of supermarkets. 

Consultation period

Publication methodology

Data collection period

Publication research report

Seminar

A collective movement to encourage more plant-based consumption

Industry agreement protein transition

Questionmark is working with supermarket chains and the sector association CBL to identify the measures supermarkets can take — both individually and collectively — to accelerate the protein transition and meet the established targets (50/50 by 2023 as set by the government, and 60/40 by 2030 as committed to by several supermarket chains).

In addition, Questionmark is partnering with several civil society organisations to collaborate with the agricultural sector, businesses, academia, and government on the development of a Dutch Plant-Based Action Plan. This plan aims to mobilize investment in knowledge, networks, and financial capacity to drive the plant-based transition, inspired by the successful model implemented in Denmark.

Within this process, Questionmark is leading the engagement of supermarket chains and the sector association CBL, with the goal of securing formal endorsement of the plan on behalf of (part of) the supermarket sector.

All news

Superlist Umwelt: Fleischportionen im Einzelhandel übergroß

Premium brands in the organic market

UK supermarkets found wanting on sustainability in new Europe-wide ranking

Superlijst Groen: Lidl loopt uit op AH, Plus stijgt, Dirk laatste

EU-Supermarkets LIFE

New climate ranking: Swedish supermarkets lag behind

Regulation of multibuys

Market for Sustainable Agriculture

Healthy start? The range of food products for children in supermarkets.

Organic at A-brands

Benchmark Bio 2025

Sector agreement protein transition

Independent by design

Partner with us