Sustainability is Key to Consumer Food Choice

Half of American consumers say taste and price is what drives their choice of food purchases.  But another factor is making a strong pitch for their business. While sustainable marketed products represent only 16.1% of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) market, they enjoyed 54.7% of CPG market growth from 2015 to 2019.  

In her presentation at the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City’s May meeting, Philippa Cross, lead sustainability strategist at consumer research firm Barkley, said 61% of consumers equate sustainability with being ‘environmentally friendly.’ She also noted 43% of consumers equate sustainable food with being healthy food. Besides taste, Cross added, 66% of consumers increasingly expect the food they purchase to have a social impact in terms of its cultivation, processing and packaging. For 42% of them, quality, safety and trust in food production overall is important. “Brand recognition,” said Cross, “is less important.”

Barbara O’Brien, president of Dairy Management, Inc., and president & CEO of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, pointed out the dairy industry has been a leader in assessing what sustainability entails in food animal agriculture. With sustainability growing in importance,” she said, “building trust is important.” O’Brien highlighted several attitudes consumers worldwide held regarding the food industry’s responsibility toward sustainability:

• 70% of consumers would like to see food companies’ sustainable practices be more visible to the public.

• 81% said it is extremely important that companies implement programs to help the environment.

• 85% expect companies to invest in sustainability.

• 88% want brands to help them (consumers) be more environmentally friendly and ethical in their daily lives.  

As head of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, it’s O’Brien’s responsibility to ensure the dairy community attains these objectives:

• Aligning on pre-competitive priorities.

• Advance an industry-wide social responsibility platform.

• Speak with a unified voice about the good work farmers and the dairy industry are doing to improve sustainability.

USDA’s Bill Hohenstein, director of the Office of Energy & Environmental Policy and Office of the Chief Economist, offered an overview of the USDA’s goals, priorities and initiatives to foster sustainability. The scope of his remarks covered USDA’s efforts to promote efficiency and a clean energy economy with sustainable policy initiatives that would exceed current environmental statutory and regulatory requirements. Hohenstein described USDA’s vision as providing economic opportunity through innovation, helping rural America to thrive, and promote agriculture production that better nourishes Americans while feeding others worldwide. Preserving the Nation's natural resources through conservation, restored forests, improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands is all part of the plan, as well.