More than four-in-five Australians consider the source of food when making buying decisions and 70 per cent consider buying from ethical manufacturers to be extremely or very important.
The findings are from ‘Food Traceability’, a major study commissioned by free-range chicken brand Lilydale. It shows consumers are interested in animal welfare and food safety, which are key drivers for wanting to trace exactly where their food comes from.
According to the study, 71 per cent of Australians are interested in obtaining more specific details of the farms from which their meat was sourced and 93 per cent believe all food should have clear labelling on where their food was sourced.
In answer to this need for more information, Lilydale is giving Australians the opportunity to trace each pack of chicken back to the farm it came from, with new labelling that details the farmer who raised the chicken in the pack.
“We’re so proud of the calibre of farmers who grow Lilydale free-range chickens, so we have featured them on our packs and have given Australians the opportunity to find out more about them,” Lilydale spokeswoman Anna Wesser said.
The ‘Food Tracebility’ study also found strong support for local farming. Eighty-nine per cent of Australians claim protecting the Australian farming industry is of high importance and 73 per cent believe that farming industry should have the capability to feed its population.
As many as 70 per cent of Australians are concerned about the risk of disease being imported from overseas food product, while 81 per cent are concerned about lower standards and regulations on imported foods.
“Ninety-one per cent of people believe traceability information needs to be included on meat products because of their growing interest in the produce they’re consuming,” Ms Wesser said.
Overall, 96 per cent of consumers want food sourced from within Australia, and 70 per cent want to know where it originated.
“We’re proud of our home-grown produce, so we wanted to introduce labelling that allows our customers to trace the source of the chicken right down to the very farm it was grown on,” Ms Wesser said.
