While health and wellbeing is likely to be at the forefront of most consumers thoughts at the moment, almost 6 in 10 (59%) adults don’t believe that retailers are doing enough to make healthy food more affordable.
However, this 59% represents a reduction from the 63% of adults who felt this to be the case in our 2017 research. Recent research on behalf of Retail Intelligence by Empathy Research, amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+, sought to understand the financial challenges that trying to lead a healthy lifestyle can bring for consumers.
As well as feeling that retailers aren’t doing enough to make healthy food more affordable, almost 6 in 10 (57%) consumers claim that they have had to choose a food item which wasn’t as healthy as they would have liked because the healthier option was too expensive. While this figure is high, it is on the decline from previous research we had conducted (65%). Within the group of consumers who have had to make this decision, 3 in 10 (30%) claim that this choice is one they must make frequently, increasing from 23% in 2017.
The price pressure on consumers when it comes to eating healthy, is clearly evident, with just over 4 in 10 (43%) adults claiming that they can’t eat the types of healthy foods they want to eat all the time because they cost too much, with almost 6 in 10 (56%) claiming that it’s becoming more expensive to eat healthily than it ever was, both figures in line with 2017 figures.
This suggests that while there are signs that retailers are making some improvements: in the eyes of the consumer there is still work to be done.
For further information and more in-depth analysis in relation to the purchasing of healthy food and the challenges faced by consumers, please contact Robbie Clarke at Empathy Research.
© 2018 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern
