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Consumer survey says taste and price rule the day

The top drivers for consumers’ food buying decisions in the 2019 Food and Health Survey are the same as they were last year, “Taste continues to be the primary purchase driver for consumers. Right below that, price. And then healthfulness and convenience.”

Alexandra Lewin-Zwerdling, research director for the International Food Information Council Foundation, says trusting the brand and recognizing the ingredients were also highly rated.

Questions about plant-based diets were in this years’ survey, which 75% of consumers said they were at least a bit familiar with, “Over half, 51%, say that they’re interested in learning more. So, a pretty good percentage of consumers are interested in plant-based diets generally.”

Consumers’ definitions of plant-based diets varied from vegan to vegetarian to eating as many vegetables as possible.

More than half of consumers said environmentally sustainable foods are important to them and that those labeled as “locally grown” were key to knowing that. But they said, overall, it’s hard to know.