In part 2 a trade exclusive video exchange, Camillo Rossotto, Chief Public Affairs & ESG Officer, Avolta talks about the scourge of greenwashing, purposeful action, customer experience and loyalty.

In the second of an exclusive two-part video interview with TRBusiness, Camillo Rossotto, Chief Public Affairs & ESG Officer of Avolta, shares his thoughts on the worrying rise in greenwashing – the act of making opaque, unsubstantiated, misleading or even false green claims to varnish positive consumer opinion about a company or its services – and discusses the affirmative actions being taken by the global travel experience juggernaut to confront the issue.

In the case of the travel retail industry, which like other FMCG markets will inevitably have its greenwashing and greenhushing perpetrators [the converse scenario to greenwashing, greenhushing refers to deliberate underreporting or refusal to publish ESG information or data to avoid scrutiny from investors, stakeholders and consumers – Ed], Rossotto observes that the niche retail eco-system occupied by DF&TR stakeholders means that while “you can fool some people sometimes, you cannot fool them all of the time”.

Scroll below to watch the full part 2 exchange – to watch part 1, click here.

“Accountability to your partners […] has to be consistent,” he asserts. “Airports have to achieve their [net zero] 2050 goals. Probably the biggest part of the decarbonisation effort has to do with aviation fuel, around 70%.

“Once the equation is solved, the remaining 30% can be spread across the other operators and dealt with relatively swiftly – but that is not true unless you really have a joint commitment to be part of teams that operate in each single airport to achieve that goal.

Going beyond ‘the call of duty’

“Including in our activity goals that go a little bit beyond the P&L or the benefit we can derive as concessionaires and thinking in terms of benefitting the environment and in that logic knowing we will attract more customers – in a few years, Gen Zs will be more than 70% of the travellers and proven to be much more sensitive to issues having to do with sustainability – makes it urgent for us to adopt measures above and beyond any sort of concern with greenwashing.”

He spoke about Avolta’s meaningful engagement with communities, including students, to sharpen the company’s sustainability efforts while pointing to the importance of ESG as a cultural value piece aligned to purposeful action, such information of which is being communicated to Avolta’s departments such as marketing and communications.

Asked directly whether Avolta has a greater stewardship role to play in calling out examples of spurious green claims where they occur among industry actors, including its own suppliers, Rossotto responded: “There are areas where public affairs and ESG really play together. The work we are doing with the tobacco companies to make sure the claim we make that the industry is free of illicit trade is thorough, methodical and goes to the country level. I can tell you there is no pack of tobacco sold in the Avolta stores that is not 100% strictly controlled and has nothing to do with illicit trade.

“That is an example where we feel responsible for other supply chains and are willing to vet them in the interest of the traveller being in a safe condition travelling through our stores. That is going a bit beyond our call of duty.”

During the course of an in-depth fireside chat with TRBusiness Editorial Director Luke Barras-Hill, Rossotto expands on the importance of increasing experience time for consumers instore, improving elements of surprise and enhancing merchandising agility, and offers his view on artificial intelligence’s potential to accelerate ESG messaging and Avolta’s new loyalty programme.

For more on Avolta, click the links below.

To access more sustainability video contents, news and interviews, access the dedicated Sustainability news tab on TRBusiness.com by clicking here.

READ MORE: VIDEO Interview – Camillo Rossotto, Avolta, Pt 1

READ MORE: Avolta snares JFK T8 retail and F&B concessions to buffer Americas growth

READ MORE: Avolta to bring first airside Presentedby store concept to Zayed Intl. Airport