Many European consumers are aiming to improve their eating habits, with health as their primary concern. Sustainability is significantly less important. Many cite the lack of reliable information as a major stumbling block.
Financial constraints
When asked how they wanted to improve their diet, 51 % of European consumers indicated that eating healthier is their top priority. Only 9 % (not even one in ten) say sustainability is their main concern when thinking how to eat better. Since 2020, the proportion of consumers considering sustainability in their diet has even decreased from 51 to 46 %, the latest EIT Food Trust Report suggests. That is an annual survey commissioned by the European food innovation community, and was conducted in July and August 2024 among 19,871 consumers in eighteen countries.
57 % of consumers want to reduce their fat intake, while 61 % aim to consume less sugar and 59 % want to decrease their intake of processed foods. Fewer than one in five (18 %) currently avoid animal-based products, while 25 % want to further reduce their consumption of such products. Regarding obstacles to changing their diet, nearly a third (31 %) cite budget constraints as the main hindrance. 27 % say it is very challenging to breaking existing habits.
Lack of information
Many consumers talk about a lack of trustworthy information about food: less than half (45 %) say they can distinguish between reliable and unreliable information about food, and 48 % believe they know where to find trustworthy information about food. Fewer than half (46 %) claim to have sufficient knowledge about the sustainability of food. Sofia Kuhn, Director of Public Insights and Engagement at EIT Food, points out that it is hard to expect consumers to change their behaviour if they do not have access to the information they need.
Trust in key players in the food sector remains very low, as was shown in last year’s edition of the survey. Not even a third of consumers consider retailers, governments, restaurants, and caterers as reliable sources of information about the health and sustainability of food. Two-thirds trust doctors and healthcare professionals as sources of information on healthy eating, while 57 % trust scientists and academics regarding information on food sustainability. Less than a fifth of consumers trust the media (newspapers, magazines and television) to provide accurate information about the health and sustainability of food.
