What role can supermarkets play in the transition to more sustainable food systems?
An exciting new study on fostering legume purchases with behavioural interventions
A new study co-authored by Professor Meike Janssen from the Centre for Sustainability at Copenhagen Business School and Maureen Schulze from Leuphana University explores how supermarket environments can help encourage the consumption of plant-based proteins.
Despite growing policy attention to sustainable diets, the consumption of legumes such as beans, lentils and chickpeas remains far below recommended levels in many European countries. In Denmark, average legume consumption is just 2–5 grams per day, compared with the 100 grams per day recommended in the Danish dietary guidelines.
Using a combination of consumer surveys, randomised controlled trials in an online supermarket, and field experiments in physical stores, the researchers examined whether simple behavioural interventions could influence purchasing decisions.
The findings show that relatively small, low-cost changes to food environments can make a difference. Sales of legumes increased by 57%, for example, when they were placed in the vegetable section of an online supermarket, while recipe-inspired displays in physical supermarkets also led to significantly higher sales.
At the same time, the study highlights the limits of relying on retailers alone to drive the protein transition. Supermarkets operate under commercial constraints, including limited shelf space and strong competition between product categories, meaning that public health and sustainability goals do not always align with commercial incentives. There is thus a potential role for policy instruments in shaping retail environments, such as we have seen in the UK.
The research also suggests that the protein transition is not only about changing food environments, but also about changing consumer perceptions. Survey results indicate that many consumers do not strongly associate legumes with protein and instead perceive them more as vegetables. Legume-based meals were also viewed as less convenient and more difficult to prepare than vegetable-based meals, highlighting the importance of improving awareness, familiarity and cooking confidence alongside changes in the retail environment.
Read the full article here: Fostering legume purchases with behavioural interventions: evidence from field experiments in online and offline supermarkets