Ethical Consumer
Ethical Consumer is a Manchester-based, not-for-profit co-operative that publishes ethical ratings and shopping guides for 40,000+ brands and products, serving ethically-minded UK consumers, NGOs, and ethical businesses through a subscription magazine and website.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1989
- HeadquartersManchester, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Ethical Consumer does
Revenue is generated through four streams: individual subscriptions at £34.50–£39.50 per year for full website and magazine access, paid consultancy services to organisations including Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Co-op Bank and The Guardian, advertising from ethically vetted companies, and grants. An institutional subscription tier has been added for businesses and organisations, and a free weekly Friday e-newsletter functions as a freemium funnel. The organisation is structured as a co-operative with open membership, is accredited by the Living Wage Foundation, and is certified by the Fair Tax Foundation.
Ethical Consumer firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ethical Consumer
- Legal name
- Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd
- Website
- https://ethicalconsumer.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1989
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Ethical Consumer is a Manchester-based, not-for-profit co-operative that publishes ethical ratings and shopping guides for 40,000+ brands and products, serving ethically-minded UK consumers, NGOs, and ethical businesses through a subscription magazine and website.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ethical Consumer industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Ethical Consumer Research & Ratings
- akta.pro primary industry
- Consumer Protection & Product Safety Regulators (BPAIAOAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Consumer & Lifestyle PR (MPAAADAB)
Keywords
Where Ethical Consumer is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Manchester
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Ethical Consumer business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Reader Subscriptions: Subscription income from individuals subscribing to the magazine (print and/or digital) and full website access including shopping guides and company profiles. Subscriptions cost £39.50/year by card/PayPal/cheque or £34.50 by Direct Debit.
- Consultancy Services: Research and consultancy services provided for campaign groups and organisations including Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Co-op Bank, and the Guardian.
- Advertising: Income from adverts placed by ethically vetted companies in the magazine and on the website.
- Grants and Other Income: Grants and other miscellaneous income sources.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Subscription (Card/PayPal/Cheque) |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Subscription (Direct Debit) |
| Freemium | Monthly | Free Weekly Newsletter |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Ethical Consumer product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ethical Consumer is an independent, not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder co-operative that publishes detailed ethical ratings for 40,000+ companies, brands and products. Its core offering is a recurring bi-monthly magazine, an online ratings database and over 100 ethical shopping guides, generated from a proprietary 300-topic scoring rubric covering 19 research areas. Access to the full ratings database and shopping guides is gated behind an annual subscription, with additional revenue from advertising, consultancy, and grant income.
Product overview
Ethical Consumer operates as a multi-stakeholder co-operative offering a suite of products centered around ethical consumption research and guidance. The core offering consists of Ethical Consumer Magazine (published 6 times yearly in print and digital formats) and over 100 Ethical Shopping Guides covering 40,000+ brands and products. These guides are powered by the company's proprietary Ethical Ratings System, which evaluates companies across 300+ topics in 5 categories (people, environment, animals, politics, sustainability). Supporting products include detailed Company Profiles with subscriber-gated information, Campaigning Resources including boycott campaigns, Consultancy Services for organisations, a Best Buy Label accreditation, and a weekly newsletter. The company positions its magazine and shopping guides as integrated tools—subscribers receive full website access including both the guides and company profiles, while the magazine format provides editorial context and in-depth features alongside product recommendations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Ethical Consumer Magazine A bi-monthly print and digital publication delivering ethical ratings, features, investigations, shopping guides and reviews of companies, brands and products for paying subscribers and the wider readership. It is the flagship editorial product of the co-operative.
- Online Ethical Ratings Database Subscriber-only online database providing detailed ethical ratings, scores and trade-off explanations for 40,000+ companies, brands and products, scored across 300+ topics in 19 research areas (Environment, Animals, People, Politics, Sustainability). Enables users to search and compare the ethics of specific brands and products.
- Ethical Shopping Guides (100+ guides) Curated, regularly updated ethical shopping guides covering 100+ consumer product and service categories, ranking and explaining the most ethical and least ethical options. Sold to subscribers and available individually as guides.
- Company Profile Pages Individual, publicly viewable profiles of the 40,000+ companies in the database, summarising their ethical scores and the underlying evidence. Available on the website, with full access gated behind subscription.
- Best Buy Label accreditation An accreditation scheme that licenses the Ethical Consumer Best Buy mark to qualifying ethical brands and products, providing them with a recognised independent endorsement to display on packaging and in marketing. Targeted at ethical businesses seeking independent validation.
- Ethical Consumer Consultancy Services Bespoke commissioned research, sector rankings and ethical analyses sold to NGOs, campaign groups, local councils and ethical businesses, leveraging the in-house research methodology and database. For example, custom local council 'ethical employer' rankings.
- Annual Subscription (individual) The core paid offering: an annual subscription priced at £39.50/year (card) or £34.50/year (Direct Debit) granting full access to the ratings database, ethical shopping guides and the bi-monthly magazine for individual subscribers.
- Free Weekly Newsletter (Ethical Mailer) A free, opt-in weekly email newsletter providing ethics-related news, rating updates and shopping guide tips. Used as a top-of-funnel lead-generation tool for paid subscriptions.
- Institutional / Library Subscription Subscription tier sold to libraries, universities, NGOs and public-sector organisations, providing shared or institutional access to the Ethical Consumer ratings database and editorial content.
Quantifiable outcome
- Boycotting and positive buying is now the third most frequently practised political activity after voting and signing a petition
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Ethical Consumer
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Ethical Consumer technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Ethical Consumer partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- The GuardiancoreThe Guardian has utilized Ethical Consumer's research and consultancy services for investigations and reporting on corporate ethics and consumer issues.
- Co-op BankcoreCo-op Bank has engaged Ethical Consumer for research services related to ethical banking and corporate responsibility assessments.
- Amnesty InternationalcoreAmnesty International has collaborated with Ethical Consumer for research and consultancy on human rights issues in corporate supply chains.
- Christian AidcoreChristian Aid has worked with Ethical Consumer on research related to corporate ethics, tax justice, and development issues.
- Lush PrizeminorEthical Consumer collaborates on The Lush Prize, a campaign and prize for alternatives to animal testing.
- Fair Tax FoundationminorEthical Consumer helped set up the Fair Tax Mark certification scheme and continues to collaborate on tax justice issues.
- Save Our BankminorEthical Consumer helped set up the Save Our Bank campaign focused on ethical banking and continues to collaborate on banking sector campaigns.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ethical Consumer competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Ethical Corporation: Business-facing publication and events company covering corporate sustainability, ESG, and ethics, sharing Ethical Consumer's editorial-research model and overlapping audience of sustainability professionals, though skewing B2B rather than consumer.
- Good On You: Good On You rates fashion brands on ethical and environmental performance via a public-facing app and dataset, mirroring Ethical Consumer's ratings-and-shopping-guides model in the fashion vertical with similar consumer and brand customers.
Broad incumbents
- Which?: UK consumer watchdog and subscription magazine that produces independent product and service reviews across categories, sharing the same consumer-advocacy positioning and subscription-funded business model as Ethical Consumer but on a much larger scale and broader topic set.
- B Lab Global (B Corporation): B Lab certifies companies against verified social and environmental standards via the B Corp label, paralleling Ethical Consumer's Best Buy Label as a third-party trust mark for ethical business performance with overlapping target customers (ethical businesses seeking differentiation).
Regional players
- Resurgence & Ecologist: Long-running UK magazine covering ecology, sustainability, and ethical living with a similar subscription-funded print/digital model and overlapping reader base of ethically-minded UK consumers.
Emerging players
- Open Food Facts: Open collaborative product database providing sustainability, processing, and label data on packaged goods — a free, open-data alternative that competes for the same shoppers seeking ethical product information on food and household goods.
- Climate Neutral Certified: Certification standard for companies measuring and reducing carbon footprint, overlapping with Ethical Consumer's environmental category of ratings and vying for the same ethically-minded brand customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Ethical Consumer social profiles
Digital presenceEthical Consumer financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ethical Consumer leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Ethical Consumer funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ethical Consumer M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ethical Consumer
What does Ethical Consumer do?
Ethical Consumer is an independent, not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder co-operative that publishes detailed ethical ratings for 40,000+ companies, brands and products. Its core offering is a recurring bi-monthly magazine, an online ratings database and over 100 ethical shopping guides, generated from a proprietary 300-topic scoring rubric covering 19 research areas. Access to the full ratings database and shopping guides is gated behind an annual subscription, with additional revenue from advertising, consultancy, and grant income.
Is Ethical Consumer a public or private company?
Ethical Consumer is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Ethical Consumer founded?
Ethical Consumer was founded in 1989. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Ethical Consumer based?
Ethical Consumer is headquartered in Manchester, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Ethical Consumer make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Reader Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are consultancy Services, advertising and grants and Other Income.
Who are Ethical Consumer's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Ethical Corporation and Good On You. Broad incumbents are Which? and B Lab Global (B Corporation). Resurgence & Ecologist is listed as a regional player. Emerging players are Open Food Facts and Climate Neutral Certified.
Does Ethical Consumer have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ethical Consumer.
What industry is Ethical Consumer in?
Ethical Consumer's product category is Ethical Consumer Research & Ratings. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIAOAE, Consumer Protection & Product Safety Regulators, with a secondary code of MPAAADAB, Consumer & Lifestyle PR.