HEALTHIER, SUSTAINABLE DIETS

RESEARCH: IGD

APPETITE FOR HEALTHIER DIETS STILL STRONG UNDER COVID-19

NEW RESEARCH PUBLISHED YESTERDAY BY IGD SUGGESTS THAT THE LONGER TERM TRENDTOWARDS HEALTHIER EATING AND DRINKING REMAINS, DESPITE THE CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC.

There is still a significant appetite for change among UK consumers to shift towards healthy and sustainable diets as they continue to grapple with the impact of Covid-19, according to new research released yesterday by IGD.

IGD’s new consumer research draws on data from more than 1,000 UK consumers collected in July to explore the impact of the pandemic on attitudes to healthy and sustainable diets.

With the advent of Covid-19, there has been a significant shift in the value placed on personal health for parents, with 35% of parents valuing their own health as the primary motivator to eat healthily and sustainably in 2020 compared to 24% in 2019. In turn, the importance that parents place on their family’s health has fallen to 31% in 2020 from 39% in 2019, potentially reflecting the lesser impact of Covid-19 on children’s health compared to adults.

Some 38% of consumers perceive healthy and sustainable eating to be more expensive, meaning perceived cost continues to be the biggest barrier to change. Other barriers include people liking the taste of their current food (24%), being creatures of habit (23%) and a lack of familiarity (17%).

Hannah Pearse, Head of Nutrition and Scientific Affairs at IGD, said: “There remains a huge opportunity to start shifting people’s behaviour towards healthier and more sustainable diets and never has there been a stronger impetus for change.”

The updated full consumer research report is available to download at www.igd.com.

HIGHLIGHTS

Over half of consumers (57%) are already changing their diets or are considering making changes to be healthier and more sustainable, down from 66% in 2019

There has been a shift in how healthy consumers perceive their diets to be, with people feeling their diets are less healthy during lockdown than in 2019

Health is now an even bigger motivator for consumers to improve their diet in the wake of Covid-19, with nearly two-thirds (63%) of people citing health as their primary driver, up from 58% in 2019

Perceived higher cost remains the main barrier to healthy and sustainable diets, with 38% of consumers thinking it is more expensive.