Consumer expects shared responsi­bility for the planet

For several years now, Innova’s Top 10 Trends have been headed by issues related to transparency and building consumer trust. By 2022, these trends had zeroed in on environmental issues and a shift in key consumer concerns about the environment. Even in a pandemic, the health of the planet took over as the top global concern ahead of population health.

Food waste reduction 

Close to half of consumers are cutting food waste and 63% say that they would like to eat at a restaurant that actively prevents or reduces food waste. As many as 20% to 25% also adjusted their product choices for environmental reasons such as choosing foods with environmentally friendly packaging and choosing sustainably grown products.

Environmental claims

Products carrying environmental claims are growing at three times the pace of total food and beverage activity. Ethical claims regarding the environment increased their share of total food and beverage launches from 4.4% in 2016-2017 to 6.6% in 2020-2021, for a 17.3% CAGR over five years. Launches of food and beverages using upcycled ingredients rose at a CAGR of 122%, compared with 59% for products using recycled plastic, 49% for products with water saving claims, 47% for products carrying carbon emissions claims and 36% for palm oil free products. 

Costs

Nearly three in 10 consumers say that it’s more expensive to buy more environmentally friendly products. Still, over half of consumers say they are willing to pay extra for food and beverage products that are devoted to solving global issues such as plastic waste (64%), ocean pollution (63%), and food waste (62%).

Too many environmental labels

Clear communications from manufacturers are essential. 55% of consumers globally say that there are too many environmental labels and they don’t know what to look for. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of consumers surveyed globally say that they prefer one label that captures the complete impact on the environment over multiple labels.

Innovamarketinsights.com