BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
SHOPPER INSIGHT
Shoppers still seeking healthy and sustainable products Research shows shoppers are struggling to balance their values with inflationary pressures and value for money.
A
lmost 60% of UK consumers believe that companies should be taxed heavily if they are producing or promoting unhealthy choices, according to new research from NielsenIQ. The survey also shows that 60% of UK households also say it is important to buy sustainably produced grocery products to help save the environment. The data reveals that 54% of UK consumers pay attention to labelling/food nutritional values when grocery shopping, with sugar (45%), fat (41%), and salt (31%) content having the biggest impact on purchase decisions.
However, data from NielsenIQ shows that shoppers in the UK face a challenge of doing good for their personal health and planet while managing the rise in food and living expenses because of the current inflation in the country. The research shows the three most important concerns about grocery products for UK shoppers are reducing food waste (45%), buying local/British (36%), and minimal/no packaging (26%). However, although consumers expressed a will to switch to sustainable packaging, their behaviour didn’t always reflect this. Recent data from NielsenIQ from the week ending 4 June 2022 shows that
value sales for bagged salad rose 2.7% year-on-year, while total salad declined by 4.8%. This is also the case for prepared fruit (+15.6%), compared with total fruit (-3.9%). Katrina Bishop, UK thought leadership activation manager at NielsenIQ, said: “With 49% of households focussing on value for money when buying new food and drink products, UK shoppers find themselves in a bit of a fix as they struggle to balance tight budgets with their health and sustainability values. We may see a slight shift in priorities from shoppers as they seek to find alternative ways to balance this.”
WEDNESDAY 3RD AUGUST 2022/ ISSUE 116/ SLRMAG.CO.UK I 21
