Some understanding but little action when it comes to sustainable food choices

The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) has conducted a pan-European study into consumers’ understanding of sustainability and food products. The results were published in the journal Food Policy.

Carried out in collaboration with Professor Klaus Grunert from Aarhus University, the study explored consumer understanding of sustainability, sustainability-related logos, information search behaviour and food choice. An online survey was carried out in six countries (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Poland and Sweden), as well as focus groups in four of these (UK, France, Germany and Spain).

Consumer understanding of sustainability in a food-and-drink context was generally high; participants in the UK, France, Germany and Spain predominantly associated sustainability with being environmentally and ecologically friendly by preserving resources and maintaining the balance of nature. Swedish consumers referred to the shelf life of foods, while Polish respondents placed more importance on maintaining a certain standard of living and a ‘sustainable’ economic output/growth.

However, environmental and ethical aspects did not play a major role in food choice. When tested against nutritional value and different price levels in a conjoint study, sustainability has no meaningful impact across all product categories tested. Things like time constraints, perceived price differences and a lack of detailed understanding of the information sources were the main barriers for including sustainability in the decision-making process. Younger people were more likely to use environmental and ethical labels to make their food choice, but overall national differences were small.

Furthermore, consumer awareness of sustainability labels (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Carbon Footprint and Animal Welfare) was generally low, though the results varied across countries. While on average UK consumers correctly identify more than half of the four labels shown, the majority of Spanish and Polish consumers barely identified more than one label. There was a considerable amount of scepticism towards quality seals, coupled with the desire for more trustworthy labelling, information and education on sustainability-related topics.

Out of six categories of food (chocolate, coffee, ice-cream, breakfast cereals, ready meals and soft drinks), respondents only showed concern about sustainability for coffee and ready meals. Consumers were favourable towards finding information at the point of purchase; the top places they would thus like to see sustainability-related information are in-store (labels on the pack, in the aisle or on the shelf), followed by online sources and programs/advertisements on TV.

“Most consumers have heard about the term ‘sustainability’ but the concept remains abstract and diffuse and therefore difficult to deal with,” said Professor Grunert. This is especially the case when compared to issues related to health and nutrition, which are easier for a consumer to grasp and therefore more relevant to his or her immediate mindset.

“The results imply that sustainability labels currently do not play a major role in consumers’ food choices,” the researchers said, “and future use of these labels will depend on the extent to which consumers’ general concern about sustainability can be turned into actual behaviour.” Such a change could occur if and when sustainability issues in the context of food and drink become more prominent in the public debate.