The German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture presented its nutrition report 2019 on food preferences, eating and shopping habits of German consumers. The report shows that good taste and healthy food are of great importance to the vast majority of consumers.
For this representative survey, the Forsa Institute conducted a survey with 1,000 consumers aged 14 or above between October and November 2018.
These are the key findings:
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91 percent of respondents said that healthy eating is important – 71 percent eat fruits and vegetables on a daily basis and 6 percent were on a vegan or vegetarian diet.
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64 percent consumed dairy products on a daily basis while 28 percent stated eating meat products every day.
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More than half of consumers paid attention to the content of sugar and fat when shopping for groceries. It was very important to many respondents that processed foods contained little sugar (71 percent) or few unhealthy trans fats (68 percent).
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While 36 percent paid close attention to the calorie content of their groceries, for 32 percent price was the most important feature.
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86 percent of respondents were interested in voluntary labeling on packaging regarding animal welfare.
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For 99 percent of consumers good taste is the most important aspect when it comes to groceries. At the same time, almost half of consumers preferred a simple food preparation.
Julia Klöckner, German Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, commented: "The report provides a good and important data basis. It shows what is on our table, what is important to citizens with regards to food and nutrition, how priorities may change over time, what role prices and calories play. The main point to take away: It should be tasty and healthy. Nine out of ten consumers care about healthy food. And just about everyone – 99 percent – want tasty food."
Source: BMEL
More information and the report