Consumers and Sustainability: Food and Beverage-Aarkstore Enterprise Market Research Aggregator

April 26, 2010 - PRLog -- The food and beverage market is central to consumer perceptions of sustainability. When the consumption of sustainable foods is motivated by personal benefits, adoption mirrors a health and wellness progression in which consumers first consider the impacts of things in the body, followed by on the body, and finally around the body. Therefore, as consumers become more educated about the environmental, social, and economic implications of foods and beverages, their health and wellness motivations dovetail with societal concerns, such that food shopping choices become salient to all four zones of sustainability:



The Personal Benefit Zone

The Environmental Zone

The Social Zone

The Economic Zone

In addition, many of the attributes that generally describe quality eating experiences, particularly freshness, also resonate as sustainable in the food and beverage market.

Measurement of sustainable products purchases across 20 food and beverage categories shows a range of adoption rates among sustainability-minded consumers as well as a range in willingness to pay a 20% cost premium. Nonetheless, while sustainability consumers have certainly modified their behavior in response to financial conditions, tradeoffs and cutbacks, they are less likely to be made in product categories they view as essential to their quality of life, including food.

To balance the agenda to save money with the commitment to buy sustainable goods, many consumers are shifting purchases of these products to discount outlets such as Walmart. At the same time (and in response), supermarkets are upping the sustainability credentials of their private-label lines, opening up another pathway to sustainable-at-a-discount shopping. Retailers are also stressing sustainability options outside of the packaged goods aisles, notably local produce and bulk merchandise. At the current intersection of sustainability awareness and financial downturn, the market is ripe for food and beverage products that allow consumers to shop more sustainably but also spend less money.


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