Government pressure to go healthy ‘good for business’
Consumers surveyed by the shopper research company Dunnhumby believed it was also the responsibility of food businesses and not the government to ensure the availability of healthy foods.
More than half of the 9,000 people surveyed believed food manufacturers (62%) and retailers (53%) influenced them to lead a healthier lifestyle, compared to 30% who said the government did.
‘Health committed’
The number of consumers who claimed to spend at least £7 in every £10 on healthy products last year had risen by 38% since 2009, the survey of eight countries, including the UK, showed.
“Healthy eating has clearly climbed the agenda among consumers in the UK and across the globe over the past five years,” said Julian Highley, global director of customer knowledge at Dunnhumby.
“It is vital that brands and retailers cater to this desire for healthy options through the development of new products.”
However, two thirds of those surveyed believed they were still less healthy than previous generations.
More consumers (71%) said they would try to eat more fruit and vegetables in the coming year and 54% said they would eat more fish.
Large proportions of those asked said they would consume fewer processed foods (57%), alcohol (46%) and fatty foods (69%), according to the research, although they did not define what ‘processed’ meant.
Eat fewer frozen vegetables
Worryingly, 26% of consumers said they would try to eat fewer frozen vegetables because they believed fresh to be better for health, despite experts claiming otherwise.
Issues preventing consumers maintaining a healthy diet included cost (70%), difficulty in changing their habits (37%) and a lack of time to prepare healthier foods (34%).
Nearly a third of those surveyed also claimed that there was a limited choice of healthy products available where they usually shopped and 11% said they were not sure how to eat healthier.
Manufacturers and retailers should therefore help consumers to understand how to eat healthily, Highley added.
“It is vital that brands and retailers cater to this desire for healthy options through the development of new products and the creation of store layouts that assist shoppers in their healthy eating aims.”
