How consumers’ behaviour is becoming the new ballot box

Throughout Europe, the first supermarkets opened in the 50’s initially with the aim of cutting the middlemen, decreasing food prices and providing the one stop shop experience. Since then supply chains have became materially longer due to huge international trading reflecting trade agreements and negligeable transportation costs. Supermarkets have driven down prices to such levels that producers sometimes end up producing at a loss. Pesticides, hormones and antibiotics have made their way in our food, ensuring an ever growing return on lands and animals. The need for speedy processes in the slaughterhouses for instance have led to cruel treatments of animals and sanitory failures. Specialised creative agencies have advised on which colours or consistencies are more appealing to the consumer. The development of processed food has increased the number of additives and amount of sugar and salt added to our food to make it tastier and more addictive which has fuelled the obesity trend. Even vegetables shapes have been standardised.

Following the food scandals in the 90’s (mad cow disease, horsemeat scandal, dioxyn contaminated chicken affair…) people started realising that they did not truly know what was in their plates anymore. Since then, despite powerful food industry lobbies, numerous studies have shown that some of the food we eat is seriously damaging our health and the planet. People are reverting to shorter supply chains with a single or no intermediary and ask for a quality guarantee. The result: organic food is the fastest growing sector of the U.S. food industry. Organic food sales increase by double digits annually, far outstripping the growth rate for the overall food market.

Irene Energy is part of this responsible consumer movement that, we expect, will in time touch every sector and every industry. We are seeing it already in banking, investment management or fashion. As far as the energy industry is concerned, the trigger has been a mix of environmental scandals and their catastrophic impact combined with the realisation that the natural resources we have been exploiting are finite. Record hurricane seasons, fuelled by abnormally warm waters in the Atlantic, causes billions of dollars in damages and kills dozens. Europe and the US suffer repeated heat waves and wildfires every summer. The list of how global warming is impacting the life of many of us is growing and is inexorably becoming more tangible and frightening. We are the first generation to truly wonder what the outcome could be if we fail to turn it around in time.

Irene Energy guarantees that the entirety of your electricity budget supports the source of renewable electricity that you chose. As more people join Irene Energy, there will be an increased and unstoppable demand for renewable electricity. Policies taken at the national level will finally reflect citizens beliefs. The blockchain as a technology will enable this change to happen by providing transparency in the supply chain. With this information, people will be able to make decision on what brands they want to support, in line with their beliefs. People’s consumption behaviours are becoming the new ballot box and Irene Energy is part of this revolution.

Thank you!

The Irene Energy Team

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