A study commissioned by the GNT Group reveals consumers in the US, Europe and Asia take a critical look at the labels of food and beverages before they put them in their shopping trolleys.
Fifty-three per cent of Europeans and 64 per cent of US Americans want to know what is in a product before they buy it. In Asia and South America, consumers are even more sensitive – 84 and 75 per cent critically study products before purchase.
The findings are from a recent consumer study commissioned by the global provider of Colouring Foods, GNT Group. For the study, the market research institute TNS surveyed more than 5,000 consumers from 10 countries in Asia, the Americas and Europe on their shopping and eating habits.
The study concludes that natural ingredients play a significant role in buying food and beverages and that 68 per cent of all consumers state that they usually choose the healthier product option in the supermarket. In order to make a substantiated purchasing decision, however, they depend on easy-to-understand product information: for 67 per cent of all consumers worldwide, comprehensible details on ingredients and additives determine the choice of food and drink. They wish for short ingredient lists with components they know and understand. In the UK, this applied to 55 per cent of respondents.
When looking at a label, consumers do not evaluate every component of a product individually, but scan the label for certain ingredients they personally avoid. In the course of this process, consumers pay special attention to colouring ingredients – for 60 per cent of consumers worldwide, the absence of artificial colourants is of major importance for their purchase decision. In the UK, 48 per cent agree with this statement.
The general stance of consumers towards buying groceries was also surveyed. The results show that shopping rates high among the majority: 63 per cent take time at the supermarket to get an overview of the range of products and new offers. Only then do they decide on what to buy. Additionally, 47 per cent of all consumers claim that they simply enjoy shopping for groceries. They browse the shelves – no matter if they need to fill their fridge or not. For them, visiting a supermarket is not an annoying duty but a chance to give themselves and their family a treat. Only about a quarter of all consumers wish to get grocery shopping over and done with as quickly as possible and thus always buy the same products.
