 that can happen. Society also delivers the consumer groups, and their buying behavior is often based on a price-quality-volume decision, thereby sustaining the market space for today’s type of products. And lastly, society also provides the subgroup that invests in stocks and futures based on the highest growth perspective of the market cap, or the highest pay-out of dividend. Recent examples show that traditional manufacturers announcing to redirect earnings into e.g., R&D to develop EVs (Electrical Vehicles) and thereby reduce dividend, tend to get punished in the stock market.
An aligned, understandable communication on sustainability from academia to value chain to society will be critical to drive change as it enables societal expectations and consumer demand to connect with agricultural production and output. Preferably, an aligned communication reaches us in each of the three roles we have, and is combined with associable benefits at work, when shopping, or when selecting stocks. Collective, small shifts in personal behavior are necessary to create the inflection point where suddenly the socio-economic system starts moving into the right direction. The Green Deal and sadly enough also the economic recession following COVID19, offer a proper frame to shape a future EU market in which agricultural sustainability delivers consumer value, but I think it is really up to society to make it work.