Ocado has a dedicated Eco Shop on site that showcases various products that fit in four sustainable categories, shown in the table below. We’ve written this guide to help you determine whether a product of yours should be listed in the Eco  Shop or not. If you still have doubts or questions after reading this guide, please contact:  sustainable_products@ocadoretail.com and we’ll be happy to discuss it with you.

1. Classification and explanation

Sustainable Category	Explanation
Reduced packaging	Products that enable the customers to reduce unnecessary packaging, including products made from sustainable or recycled materials and products made from materials that are more widely recycled.
Responsible contents	Products that are specifically designed to be environmentally sensitive, using natural and biodegradable ingredients that differ to the norm.
Low food waste	Products that are focussed on reducing food waste – including using ingredients that would otherwise go to waste, or products from a company with a strategy of lowering food waste.
Lifestyle	Products that enable the customer to make a lifestyle choice to become more sustainable. A clear alternative to a mainstream product that limits usage of materials.

2. General rules

• The supplier should be supportive of sustainability in general and have no major PR sustainability issues in their history.
• In each category, the number of one supplier’s product cannot be in a predominant position – this rule is relatively flexible, but generally one supplier shouldn’t have more than a handful of products in one subcategory. 
• Suppliers can’t pay Ocado to navigate to their products in our sustainability shop – it must be the buying manager’s decision and the products must pass the litmus tests below.
• All products must have very strong sustainability feature(s) compared to the norm.All products must have clear BOP info at ocado.com so customers can understand why the product is more sustainable without further questioning or research.
• The supplier and its products must have a good reputation, if it’s already listed on ocado.com, then the reviews should be taken into account.
• Products must be free from: animal testing, harsh toxic ingredients, corrosive chemicals, black plastics, PVC or polystyrene and any plastic that is marked as ‘very difficult’ or ‘difficult’ in the appendix.
• Customer’s health and safety comes first when it comes to food products. No sensitive/debatable materials are allowed in the product or packaging. For example, all food products must be BPA free. 

3. Litmus test for each category

3.1 Reduced Packaging

• Is the product and packaging made from widely recyclable materials and the alternatives are not?
• Is the product and packaging made from recycled materials, and alternatives are not? (Min. 80%)
• Compostable is not currently acceptable into this area, recyclable is suggested.

3.2 Responsible Contents 

• Is the product biodegradable?
• Is the percentage of sustainable ingredients higher than the norm?
• The product must not contain: palm oil and its derivatives, but sustainable palm oil is accepted (RSPO certified).
• Is the product consciously different from the norm?

3.3 Low food waste

• Does this product improve the efficiency of food usage? Will less food end up in the bin by using this product?
• Can the by-product of this product be  used to create something else?
• Or does this supplier use some by-products that would normally be wasted by other suppliers?

3.4 Lifestyle

• By choosing this product, can customers become more environmentally friendly?
• Has this sustainable feature you’re evaluating already been adopted by most of the products in this category?