Consumers are still prepared to pay more for healthy food and drink, despite their own confusion and scepticism about marketing claims.
This was the conclusion of Healthy Eating, a market assessment report carried out by Key Note. It found that 77 per cent of consumers were prepared to pay “a bit more” for healthy food and drink. However, far fewer were prepared to sacrifice the taste of their food for the sake of their health: fewer than one in four said that it was worth purchasing healthy food and drink even if it did not taste as good.
While much of the research in the report makes for positive reading for those involved in the production and retail of healthy food and drink, there are also areas of concern for the industry.
More than three-quarters of respondents said that they did not always believe the claims of supermarkets and food manufacturers about the healthiness or otherwise of different types of food. Furthermore, almost two-thirds (65 per cent) were so confused by conflicting advice and information about healthy eating that they felt they might just as well eat what they liked. A similar proportion agreed that the whole topic of healthy eating is over-emphasised, and that people make “too much fuss” about whether food and drink is healthy or not.
When comparing the data of its 2008 survey with those of a similar survey in 2006, Key Note found consumers appear to be becoming disenchanted with the concept of healthy eating - or at least with the way in which it is marketed and promoted. For example, 85 per cent of those respondents living in households that included children aged under five do not always believe what food manufacturers and retailers say about healthy eating
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