EATrends are the trends in the food sector, which help us to understand what is happening in the field of food consumption, they give us clues to changes in people’s needs, preferences, beliefs or behaviours.
This article is dedicated to the sustainability trend.
(The full downloadable report is available here, only for AZTInnova members. If you are not a member, you can download it here.)
Sustainability, increasingly a must
The evolution of consumption values following the pandemic and climate change have contributed to increased environmental awareness in Spain in recent years.
Moreover, there is a growing awareness of the need to minimise food waste in the home.
Consumers are interested in and aware of aspects related to food sustainability (especially animal welfare), although they do not currently buy more sustainable food, i.e. food that is environmentally or animal friendly or that avoids excessive plastic packaging, to give a few examples.
Another fact to bear in mind is that the demand for information and transparency to help them make a more conscious consumption has grown considerably.
How do consumers react to sustainability as megatrend?
The following are some interesting facts from the survey conducted on a sample of 2,000 people in the framework of the Consumer Observatory project promoted by EIT Food.
- Less animals: Half of the respondents have no intention of changing their habits with regard to consuming more or less animal products. The rest either have already reduced or are considering reducing their consumption.
- Increasingly plant based: The biggest obstacle is the fact that they are not perceived as highly palatable foods, while the price is the worst rated aspect. Their strong point, however, is their perceived nutritional value.
- Acceptance of upcycled food: There is hardly any rejection or mistrust. Their detractors claim that they are unappetising and lack of knowledge.
- Environmental labelling: We find a very good uptake of science-based environmental labelling initiatives and ABCD system.
- Protein diversification: Half of the population is open to the consumption of new protein sources such as algae or mushrooms. On the other hand, there is a high rejection of insects.