A new study shows that positioning plant-based alternatives more prominently and adding climate labels to online supermarkets reduced the climate-related emissions of shopping baskets by 13 to 16%.
The EU research project VISIONARY, which concludes at the end of August 2026 after four years, was funded by The Horizon Europe, and ran large-scale online grocery experiments testing how labelling, price incentives, and product placement shift what shoppers buy. The combination of climate labelling and targeted placement of plant-based options delivered the emissions reduction compared with control groups.
The study shows that, in purchasing behaviour, the online-supermarket work indicates that how plant-based items are presented, rather than their availability alone, changes uptake. The project also highlights public procurement in schools, daycare centres, hospitals, and cafeterias as an effective route to build demand for organic food, having identified weak demand as a barrier to organic farming development in Germany, Poland, Hungary, and the UK.
A survey of 981 Danish farmers found the economic impact of a carbon tax is often overestimated, with VISIONARY concluding that transparent communication can reduce these misperceptions and raise acceptance of climate measures. A separate survey of 1,077 farmers in Germany, Poland, Spain, and the UK looked at higher-ambition agri-environmental measures such as flowering areas and field margins. A credible government-backed biodiversity label could encourage participation.
VISIONARY’s overall finding is that European sustainability goals cannot be met through agricultural production alone and depend equally on processing, retail, foodservice, and public institutions. The transition succeeds only when farmers, businesses, policymakers, and consumers are addressed together, with technical solutions alone being insufficient. Its results will feed into the further development of European agricultural, environmental, and food policy. The project was funded by the European Union, with UK participants supported by UK Research and Innovation under the UK’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee.
