A recent survey* asked 2,000 U.S. consumers about their grocery purchases, specifically when it comes to buying “natural” or “processed” foods. The poll revealed that the average consumer believes:
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♦ Thirty-two percent (32%) of their diet is made of “natural” ingredients.
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♦ When seeing the term “natural” on a food product, 51% of consumers polled said they assume the product is made of all whole ingredients and that there will not be any preservatives present (49%).
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♦ When consumers do not see the word “natural” on food packaging, they tend to think that the product must have chemicals in it (52%) or are likely to be processed (43%).
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♦ Additionally, forty-two percent (42%) of consumers said they assume food that is not labeled “natural” is unhealthy, or even full of preservatives.
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♦ One in four consumers (26%) also assume that “natural” food products are ultimately better for the environment and 65% believe that food products that claim to be “sustainable” were grown or produced in a way that benefits the environment.
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♦ A full 61% of consumers reported they have actively sought out foods with fewer preservatives or processed ingredients within the last year.
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♦ As for reading the ingredient labels on food products more closely, 60% of U.S. consumers reported doing so.
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♦ Forty-two percent of consumers reported buying more “natural” foods and 24% reported prioritizing locally-made or grown foods.
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Although the majority of Americans claim to care about how natural their food is (69%), where their food was grown (80%) and whether or not the people growing it were fairly paid (79%), the data also shows that other factors have a much greater impact…
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♦ More than half (55%) said that what matters most to them when buying food is the taste, almost twice as the number who cited where it’s grown (22%).
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♦ And 66% of respondents said they do not care where their food comes from as long as they can afford it.
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♦ When asked to choose between convenient processed food and harder-to-source natural food, 25% will choose convenient processed food, while 34% said they would choose natural food.
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WHAT MATTERS MOST WHEN BUYING FOOD?
- How good it tastes – 55.15%
- How healthy it is – 54.50%
- How natural it is – 42.10%
- How much it costs – 35.00%
- How long it will take to spoil – 30.55%
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*Survey was conducted by OnePoll in partnership with NatureSweet
AS
Chemical Free Life 