Netto called ØGO Denmark's 4th most sustainable brand — consumers only perceived it

Netto, Denmark's largest grocery chain and part of Salling Group, markets its organic private-label line under the ØGO brand. In social media posts and Netto+ promotional emails, the chain claimed that 'ØGO takes 4th place again among Denmark's most sustainable brands'. The basis was the Sustainable Brand Index, an SB Insight survey of around 10,000 consumers — a measure of perception, not of environmental performance.

The Consumer Ombudsman drew the line the ad had blurred: there is a significant difference under marketing law between products being sustainable and consumers perceiving them as sustainable. Being organic does not by itself document sustainability. The claim violated the Marketing Practices Act's prohibitions on misleading marketing and its requirement that factual claims be documented.

The Ombudsman reported Salling Group to the police in September 2025. On 12 March 2026 the company accepted a fine of DKK 10 million, calculated under the stricter penalty model in force since January 2022. Netto called it 'a regrettable human error' — the posts were removed when the Ombudsman first asked — and, unusually, accepted the fine while appealing its size, arguing the penalty should weigh whether a violation is a one-off or systematic.