Were you surprised by the financial crisis? If you don’t change your processes and values the worst is still ahead of you.

(Prague, 1st march) Financial crisis, strengthened by social and economic problems and growing sense for consumers responsibility, is changing the economic and business environment. Influence of this „green“ revolution affects more than just traditional organic food markets or movements for environment protection. If companies don’t adapt to these challenges they will have troubles to succeed in the market in future.

Currently the whole world deals more or less with the consequences of global crisis. Inhabitants and companies in Czech Republic have felt the impacts. Some companies bankrupt, in some the turnover is decreasing, the unemployment grows, customers are saving money and reducing their expenses.

Crisis is dramatically changing the consumers’ behavior

Financial and economic crisis has its unexpected subsidiary effect. Retailers are forced to understand again their customers, who consider more while doing their shopping nowadays. Crisis has changed the consumers´ shopping behavior and indirectly develops the need of change in the business attitude. The consumption optimism of the 90´s representing a happy era of gathering material values, led to vacuum.

Customers limit their consumption not only because of the financial view but also from the ethical reasons. They spend their money more on shopping the goods with value going beyond the financial cost. This is reflected by growing  sales of fair trade, local (organic) food, energy saving appliances and low energy houses. People demand more and more products that have higher efficiency, longer life and operate better. They want to know the whole product life cycle. They want to be sure the used materials and ingredients are safe and responsibly produced. They prefer nature base products, biologically degradable, in recyclable packaging.

Leaders are showing direction

It is necessary to understand the current situation as a time of looking for new opportunities and possibilities when quantity is being replaced by quality and consumers mental  horizon is shifted from immediate presence to the future. Therefore  many innovative and visionary companies even in the time of inhibition, or maybe because of it, invest to sustainable processes. As an illustrative example we can mention the biggest world retailer, Wal-Mart company, which has created a global index of sustainability as a result of its effort to be a more responsible company. It helps the company to create a more transparent supply chain, to support the products innovations and as the final consequence to provide customers with information necessary for each product sustainability evaluation.

LOHAS as a target group of the future 

Many companies use endorsing to social responsibility and sustainability, that is to the values of LOHAS consumers, as their competitive advantage. Supporters of LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) trend represent a strong group of consumers preferring quality, social responsibility and ecological approach. Their share in the society is estimated between 10 and 30 percent of adults across all age groups with middle and higher incomes and expenditures. LOHAS as a lifestyle influences a broad spectra of consumer behavior, from food shopping, clothes, needs for children, household cleaning to investments into more ecological cars, buildings, ways of spending leisure time and other related products and services. These consumer habits are not much influenced by the crisis. LOHAS customers are very demanding – they know what they want and are not willing to change their values even in the crisis.

Don´t stay behind, seek inspiration

Creating the sustainable services and products requires time and financial investments. But companies that have already invested or are investing in these areas start reaping great advantages. By reconsidering your priorities, cooperation instead of competitive fight, using safer and more quality ingredients and sources, consistent enforcement of energy saving, doing analysis of products lifecycle or using new principles in material and design of packaging – all these are changes leading to lasting advantages for your company as well as for environment and society.

Be leaders in your field, don’t stay behind, don’t wait until the smarter and more progressive companies erase you from the market. Now is the time for change.

The conference Bio Summit 2010, which will be held on 8^th April 2010 in Congress centre U Hájků in Prague, will deal with the needs of LOHAS customers and consequential challenges for retailers and producers. Companies standing in the front of LOHAS initiatives will present their experience at the conference and will discuss different ways to sustainability. Among companies, which will present their strategies, there will be Starbucks, L’Oreal, Ecover, Eosta and others. The program, speakers and discussion sections will deconstruct “business as usual”, show examples of innovative solutions and point at the importance of new ways of evaluation, management and implementation of sustainability in all areas of business.

Already more than 100 companies have registered for the conference Bio Summit. Be also among those who “know”. At the conference you will meet innovators from food and non-food fields and experts in the area of sustainability and responsible business. Registration for the conference is available on-line at www.biosummit.cz.

For more information please contact Bio Summit conference organizers:

Blue Events, info@blueevents.eu, Tel.: 222 749 841, www.blueevents.eu

Green marketing, tom@greenmarketing.cz, Tel.: 541 263 456, www.greenmarketing.cz

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