GB No. 9, autumn 1992
While doing my shopping I once overheard people discussing the merits of some German made delicacy, usually well seasoned with artificial colours and preservatives, now labelled with DER GRUNE PUNKT sticker.
Not so long ago I had the chance to come across the said label myself, while buying a loaf of bread from Mr Dariusz Oskroba's bakery in Celestynów. It appeared that the enterprising baker was indeed going to some lengths, trying to get more custom.
The plastic wrapper on a loaf boasts DER GRUNE PUNKT sticker, though Mr Oskroba does not himself belong amongst the,so called, "health food producers"; his bread being of outstanding quality, nevertheless.
Besides, one is lead to believe, that DER GRUNE PUNKT labelling system has been designed to function only within Germany; the exception being the foreign companies exporting the so labelled products into Germany, and thus automatically sharing in the costs of the utilization of their packaging.
Considering that the label on Mr Oskroba's tasty loafs is printed in Polish, it is rather unlikely, that he should be a member of this particular scheme.
Mr Oskroba would be well advised, however, to re-examine his approach to labelling, if only for the sake of effective advertising - after all, one untrue information on the label may inadvertently ruin the rest of the message, i.e. that it contains no preservatives.
The customers would be far more likely to swallow something like: "not animal-tested" and "ozone-friendly".
This at least happens to be both true and positively customer-friendly!
Andrzej Żwawa
ZB 12/92
transl. by Sigillum Ltd.