NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies are working hard to make everything from clothing to laundry detergent more environmentally friendly, corporate executives said this week at the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit.
But even though consumers are enamored with the idea of having cupboards and closets full of "green" products, they have not been willing to pay higher prices or accept compromises on quality.
More than ever, Americans are using their wallets in an effort to combat climate change, snapping up everything from energy-efficient washing machines to recycled paper towels.
In an effort to satisfy that demand and make consumers feel better about the products they buy, manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble Co. (PG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Whirlpool Corp. (WHR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and others are paring back packaging, researching sustainable materials and making their products and operations more energy efficient.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's biggest retailer, has helped push its suppliers to make those changes with initiatives aimed cutting energy usage and packaging -- and reducing both the retailer's and manufacturers' costs.
Procter & Gamble is one company taking a big step toward reducing its packaging this year with the launch of concentrated laundry detergent, but a senior executive acknowledged that changing consumers' habits would not be easy.
"How do you convince consumers that small is beautiful in laundry?" P&G's global product supply officer, Keith Harrison, said at the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit in New York. "Everyone has managed to do that in cell phones and iPods, but how you get consumers to understand that small is beautiful in laundry will be an interesting challenge."
Other executives speaking at the summit agreed that there are still plenty of difficulties marketing environmentally friendly products, saying U.S. consumers are only willing to go so far in their efforts to "go green."
"There is sensitivity, but I think they probably aren't ready to accept performance trade-offs," said Steve Sadove, Chief Executive of luxury department store operator Saks Inc. (SKS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), when asked if customers are seeking out clothing and accessories made from sustainable materials. "They want it to come from the same designers. As much as anything, it's going to be driven by what the designers are out there providing."
Jeff Fettig, CEO of appliance maker Whirlpool, said price is still a bigger factor for consumers than the energy efficiency of, say, a new washing machine or dryer.
"Consumers absolutely appreciate environmentalism in our products ... I certainly wouldn't say they would be willing to pay for it," Fettig said. "We have to do it in a smart way where the consumer gets everything they want, because if we did it on a stand-alone basis and charged X percent more, there are not many who would pay for it."
Making sustainable products that measure up to existing ones in quality terms is also a challenge for manufacturers, who say consumers would not be willing to accept items they didn't like even if they were better for the environment.
Playtex Products Inc. PYX.N, for instance, is looking for materials it could substitute for the plastic in its tampon applicators as more U.S. women are shifting toward using plastic applicator tampons from biodegradable cardboard applicator tampons, Playtex Chief Executive Neil DeFeo said.
"The essence of a consumer product is that it meets the consumers' needs," DeFeo said, adding that sales of the company's Beyond cardboard applicator tampon have been disappointing. "If it's biodegradable but doesn't work as a tampon, they're not going to buy it."
(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)
© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
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