Week 42: Arla cuts 29 organic farms and blames willingness to pay

The Dutch financial supervisor AFM published a notice to the sector on 9 October headed “Breng uw duurzaamheidsclaims ook in lijn met nieuwe Europese regels”, telling supervised firms that the Empowering Consumers rules in Directive (EU) 2024/825 apply to them on top of the existing Wft information requirements. The Dutch implementing act was published in the Staatsblad on 24 June 2026 and took effect on 16 July 2026, and the AFM puts the consequence plainly: “Marktpartijen moeten hieraan dus al voldoen en handhaving daarop door de AFM is al mogelijk.”

The scope named is wide: banks, insurers, investment firms and funds, advisers and intermediaries, credit providers, crowdfunding platforms and crypto service providers, covering marketing about the firm's own sustainability as well as product claims. Six requirements follow. Generic words such as “duurzaam”, “groen” and “milieuvriendelijk” are permitted only on demonstrated recognised excellent environmental performance evidenced through the EU Ecolabel or an officially recognised national or regional label; partial claims may not imply a whole product or firm; climate-neutral claims may not rest on offsetting alone; labels need a reliable certification system or public scheme, because “zelfontwikkelde labels zonder onafhankelijke verificatie zijn niet toegestaan”; forward-looking net-zero claims need verifiable plans with measurable interim targets and progress monitoring; and firms are asked to map every claim and label and amend what fails.

The notice carries no supervisory figures and no named official, so it is a statement of posture rather than the result of a review.

The Danish Consumer Ombudsman published case 24/05524 on 1 October, finding that a flower retailer, not named in the public résumé, could not document the environmental claims it used to market bouquets. The wording at issue included “Blomster af miljøet, for miljøet”, “originale miljøbuketter”, “omtanke for miljøet”, “en grønnere blomsterindustri” and, most specifically, “blomster med et 35 % lavere CO2-aftryk sammenlignet med konventionelle blomster”.

The company did produce a life cycle assessment, comparing the environmental impact of two flower production systems. It failed anyway. The Ombudsman held that the assessment did not show the bouquets burdened the environment significantly less than comparable bouquets, and that the company had not documented how the comparison system represented what Danish consumers can actually buy. That is a failure of the documentation requirement in markedsføringsloven § 13, and the claims therefore breached §§ 5 and 6 read with § 8. The marketing stopped during the case and no fine or police report followed.

The Ombudsman assessed the case under the law as it stood when the marketing ran, and noted that the amendment effective 27 September 2026 would now treat a generic environmental claim as misleading in all circumstances unless the trader can demonstrate recognised outstanding environmental performance relevant to the claim.

In the 2027 state budget, presented on 7 October, the Norwegian Climate and Environment Ministry proposed NOK 35 million for a pilot scheme supporting the repair of white goods: washing machines, fridges and similar large appliances. The stated purpose is to test whether financial support actually shifts consumers from replacing to repairing, and the design follows recommendations from the government's expert group on circular instruments.

The budget also continues Sirkulærsats at NOK 15 million, administered by Miljødirektoratet to municipalities and county municipalities testing leasing, subscription and sharing services as alternatives to ownership, with computers, furniture and cars named as examples. Both figures are proposals for 2027 rather than adopted appropriations, and the release contains no producer-responsibility, packaging, textile or labelling measure.

A Flash Eurobarometer released on 8 October for World Ecolabel Day, reference IP/26/2091, found 81 per cent of European consumers believe EU Ecolabel products have a lower environmental impact than comparable products on the market, up from 75 per cent in 2023. Recognition of the flower logo reached 46 per cent, up 8 percentage points from 38 per cent, and 46 per cent say they specifically buy EU Ecolabel products, also up 8 points. Two thirds, 66 per cent, often or sometimes buy eco-labelled products of any kind.

Demand for more coverage is high: 72 per cent want the label extended to further categories, led by detergents at 50 per cent, textiles at 36 per cent and cosmetics at 35 per cent. Fieldwork ran from 31 August to 6 September 2026 across all 27 member states with 25,566 respondents.

The Commission published supply-side figures alongside the survey: 121,083 certified products under 3,665 licences as of September 2026, more than 4,000 products added since March, over 1,000 certified tourist accommodations, and 62 per cent of licence holders being small and medium enterprises.

Kaupan liitto, the Finnish Commerce Federation, published the fifth wave of its consumer responsibility survey on 5 October: 4,095 adults in mainland Finland, fielded by Kantar Finland. Price dominance has risen sharply. Sixty-six per cent of 18 to 79 year olds say they often buy primarily on price, up from 56 per cent four years earlier, and 87 per cent of under-35s say they decide often or always on price. Chief economist Jaana Kurjenoja notes the shift is strongest among working-age people: “Hintavetoisuus on voimistunut ennen kaikkea työikäisillä.”

The more consequential finding is what responsibility has come to mean. Finns aged 35 to 64 now rank employing and investing in Finland as the single most important marker of a responsible company; over-64s rank paying tax in Finland higher still; among 18 to 34 year olds domestic employment sits second, behind respect for human rights across the supply chain. Over the past two years both human rights and climate change have become less important as responsibility criteria. Kurjenoja ties it to the labour market: “Työttömyystilanteen heikentyminen näkyy siinä, mitä vastuullisuudella ymmärretään.”

The say-do gap is explicit. Seventy-three per cent want to favour retailers that employ, invest and pay tax in Finland, but 47 per cent would pay more for it. Seventy-one per cent say they would pay more for durable and recyclable goods, barely changed since before the pandemic, rising among under-35s and dipping slightly among over-35s. Just over 40 per cent have bought an expensive item new expecting to resell it, and a third often buy second-hand, rising to 58 per cent of under-35s.

The Consumentenbond, with Natuur & Milieu, published panel findings on 8 October and asked the Tweede Kamer to set a hard deadline for a replacement expected-lifespan table. Of 3,100 panel members surveyed, more than 1,000 had owned a defective or substandard product in the previous twelve months. Nearly 90 per cent want to know before buying how long a product normally lasts, 86 per cent want the retailer's guarantee period printed on the packaging, and 90 per cent want legal and manufacturer guarantee information on the receipt.

The waste sits in the information gap. Fifty-nine per cent of those with a defective product did not invoke any guarantee, mostly because they wrongly believed none still applied, and 70 per cent say they would have chosen repair had they known it was free under guarantee. Director Sandra Molenaar: “Consumenten én winkeliers denken vaak dat er standaard 2 jaar garantie geldt, maar dat klopt niet.” Dutch law entitles consumers to a product that lasts as long as they may reasonably expect, which she puts at anywhere from two to eight years depending on the product.

The table the two organisations want replaced was published by trade association Techniek Nederland in 2014. A revision has been under way with manufacturers and retailers since 2023 and has been postponed repeatedly.

Arla has terminated its contracts with 29 organic dairy farms in Sweden, holding about 8 per cent of its Swedish organic milk volume, out of roughly 240 organic suppliers. A further 23 Arla Ko farms, which receive premium payment for higher animal welfare and sustainability requirements, were also cut, bringing the total to 52. Farmers were notified on 7 October, the decision was reported on 8 October, and Arla corrected the Arla Ko figure from 27 to 23 the following day. The 29 organic farms keep full organic payment for one year, after which they may continue supplying as conventional producers.

What makes this more than a supply decision is the reason Arla gave on the record. Press chief Max Wallenberg: “Många konsumenter är tyvärr inte beredda att betala kostnaden för ekologiska mjölkprodukter,” adding “Vi gör det här för att balansera utbud och efterfrågan.”

Banking on thin ice 4, published by Naturskyddsföreningen and Fair Finance Guide at 07:00 on 9 October, reviews Nordic bank fossil lending across 2024 and 2025. Nordea lent SEK 7.4bn and SEB SEK 6.5bn, close to SEK 14bn between them, to oil companies expanding in the Arctic, overwhelmingly the Norwegian firms Equinor and Aker BP, which have revived the Wisting field in the Barents Sea, described as the world's northernmost.

Across all expanding fossil companies, SEB, Nordea, Danske Bank and Swedbank lent more than SEK 60bn over the two years. Danske Bank increased its fossil lending most, by 152 per cent; Swedbank cut its own by 26 per cent, the largest reduction, and Swedbank and Handelsbanken both continue to refuse Arctic oil financing. Aslak Holmberg of Samernas Centralorganisation i Finland contributed a case study on the consequences for reindeer herding, hunting and fishing.

SEB has published a rebuttal on the record, arguing that fossil energy now accounts for 1.7 per cent of its credit portfolio, down from 4.7 per cent in 2019, and that much of what the report classifies as fossil financing goes to companies with verified transition targets.

Greenpeace Nederland published test results on 3 October, broadcast the same evening on Kassa. All five fish-based own-brand dry cat foods tested, from Albert Heijn, Aldi, Jumbo, Lidl and Plus, contained the ultra-short-chain PFAS compound TFA. Only the Albert Heijn sample also contained PFNA, at 0.12 micrograms per kilogram.

The analysis was carried out by emeritus professor Jacob de Boer, a toxicologist and environmental chemist at VU Amsterdam, who notes PFNA is roughly ten times more toxic than the now-banned PFOA, and that a cat eating the food would ingest around 50 times the limit applied to humans. No limits exist for cats, and none exist for PFAS in cat food at all.

Greenpeace explicitly absolves the retailers and manufacturers, naming chemical producers including Chemours as the source and using the finding to press for a national PFAS ban. The study rests on a single sample per retailer from single batches, and the Jumbo product is reported to be no longer on sale.