According to a study conducted for SIAL Paris, customers’ top worry when choosing which foods to buy is still health.
In order to better their health, 71% of consumers changed their diets, according to the Kantar Insights Food 360 Study 2022, the findings of which are presented in SIAL Insights. The study also revealed that 37% of customers pay greater attention to components because they want to protect their health, while 67% of consumers now follow a better diet. Similar to this, 72% of respondents claim they prefer to purchase goods devoid of synthetic additives like colorants or preservatives.
According to SIAL Insights, the food sector has altered ingredients or modified the makeup of products as a result of these consumer demands. Therefore, the industry has created products available that are produced from animals that have not regularly received antibiotics and are free of GMOs, colorings, and pesticides. According to SIAL Insights, “the withdrawal of specific chemicals or contentious compounds to reassure customers has become the standard.”
When comparing the results of this year’s poll to those from 2020, the proportion of consumers who believe that businesses successfully ensure the safety of their products has increased by two percentage points, from 20% to 22%. Nevertheless, despite some customers’ increased confidence, 70% of consumers believe that food can be harmful to their health, with China experiencing a particularly high level of anxiety.
During the pandemic, there was a five-point decline in the percentage of consumers who were committed to reduce their intake of fat, sugar, and salt, but SIAL Insights points out that many products make claims about lower levels helping customers improve their health. According to Kantar’s research, while excitement for products without additives has decreased in Spain and the UK, it is still rising in Germany (where a four-point gain was reported) (down five points and four points respectively).