March 2008

Shifting consumer behaviours to more sustainable food choices

A new way of connecting

•http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ChannelID=206134959

Food shopping can be a pleasure

Even for Royalty

But in reality.....

...it’s rarely a valued experience

Budget pressur

e

Sterile environmen

tTime pressure

Choice overload

We have become disconnected to food

% of total household spend

1957 2006

Food 33% 15%

House 9% 19%

Leisure 9% 19%

Source: Office of National Statistics

•Despite there being more choice than ever before, we spend less time and money on food shopping than ever before

•As nation we have become detached from the source of food, we have forgotten how to cook, we have lost our culture of food

A shift IS beginning

Stop buying from companies you feel are supplying

unhealthy products

Stop buying from suppliers you feel are acting

unethically

Stop buying from companies you feel are damaging the

environment

% of consumers who claim they have done in the past year

31

29

25

40

33

28

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

2003 2005

So

urc

e: H

enle

y C

entr

e P

lan

nin

g f

or

Co

nsu

mer

Ch

ang

e 20

03 &

200

5

•But there is a difference between saying one thing and then actually doing it•Understanding attitude vs behaviour is critical

Attitude or Behaviour Change First?

•Some changes start with attitude e.g. organic food•But attitude change can equally follow behaviour change e.g. plastic bags•Will depend on your typology

Behaviour Change

Attitude Change

Propensity to change varies across segments

Rejecters Pre

-occupied

Confused Cautious

Conformists

Conveniently

Concerned

Converts Crusaders

No effort Limited effort Active effort

Attitudinal and Behavioural

* Approximate from various sources

10%* 10%* 15%* 15%* 25%* 15%* 10%*

‘Waste not want not’

(Defra) 12%

Let’s focus on the middle ground

• They would like to do more• But a number of barriers get in their way

Confused Cautious

Conformists

Conveniently

Concerned

15%* 15%* 25%*

‘Waste not want not’

(Defra) 12%

There are real barriers

No real consensus over issues

•Green beans from Kenya- right or wrong?

Confusion and lack of clarity

vs

vs

Still positioned as a luxury by manufacturers

And requiring more effort

vs

The result for many...

To overcome this inertia

• Sustainable food needs to find ways of:

• Clarifying the confusion

• Offering easier solutions

• Mainstreaming luxury

• Delivering convenience

• i.e. normalising ‘good’ food choices

• And above all, re-connecting people with food

A framework for reconnection

Engage

Educate

Ease

Enforce

Exemplify

Experience

ENGAGE in a more personal way

• Community action

• Local and personalised

• Ripple effect

• Making it real and tangible

EDUCATE

• We have forgotten how to eat well everyday

• And how to cook

• Opportunity via kids

• Change of lifestage

EXEMPLIFY and Lead

• Supermarkets are already taking the lead

• Celebrity and media play a key role

– Jamie and Hugh

• Make non-action obvious

– e.g. all low emission cars ‘badged’

ENFORCE a behaviour change

• Legislation-led

• Consumers want this:

– 27% of more involved consumers actively want government to intervene (Ipsos July 2007)

• Battery egg ban in 5 years

EASE better choices

• Resolve trade-offs

– E.g. Saving energy also saves you money

– Local food really does taste better

• Minimise effort required

– Ariel Turn to 30o

– Affordable veg boxes

Create EXPERIENCE

• Give people a visceral feeling of the joy of sustainable food

• The production, the preparation and the eating

• Reconnect them with food emotionally as well as rationally

All can work together to catalyse attitude and behaviour change

Engage

Educate

Ease

Enforce

Exemplify

Experience

Change

Thank you