The European Union-funded projects TealHelix and CUES share a common vision of driving sustainability in food systems by empowering consumers and enhancing food labelling practices. Both projects aim to tackle the challenges of adopting sustainable food practices, with a focus on enabling informed consumer choices and creating long-lasting impacts on food industry behaviours.
CUES addresses the broader challenge of transforming food choices and systems to be more sustainable. Its approach focuses on guiding consumer behaviour through persuasive cues, ensuring that individuals can make choices that align with environmental, societal, and economic values. CUES aims to foster collaboration among consumers, food value chain actors, and policymakers to catalyse a triple change in the food ecosystem, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and trustworthy food system.
To achieve this, CUES will develop nine targeted interventions and conduct a series of policy dialogues using a multi-actor participatory approach. This innovative strategy goes beyond conventional methods by addressing the intricate interplay of factors within the food system and actively engaging consumers, food value chain actors, and policymakers. The learning community, communication, and behaviour change toolkits created by CUES aim to overcome existing barriers related to informing, motivating, and engaging consumers. The project aspires to reach at least three million consumers, fostering increased consumption of sustainable food and strengthening trust in the food system.
While both projects prioritise the role of consumers in driving sustainability, their approaches differ in scope. TealHelix focuses on personalisation and the creation of tailored labelling interventions, while CUES emphasises broader systemic changes within food value chains, policy, and culture. Despite these differences, the two projects are united in their goal of empowering consumers to make informed, sustainable choices.
In recognition of these shared objectives, TealHelix and CUES have established a strong synergy. By collaborating, the projects will strengthen their impact,and benefit from cross-project insights and collective efforts to address the complex challenges of building a sustainable food system.