Almost 9 in 10 (89%) adults believe that supermarkets should donate unsold leftover food to charity, up marginally from levels recorded in 2018 (87%), highlighting the continued focus on sustainability and waste in relation to food products amongst consumers.
This is one of the findings from recent research amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+, conducted on behalf of Retail Intelligence by Empathy Research. The purpose of the research was understanding how important food waste management is amongst shoppers and how sustainability may influence shopper behaviour in the future.
This focus on reducing waste has the potential to be a point of difference for retailers and impact their bottom line, with almost 6 in 10 (59%) shoppers claiming would be more likely to shop in a store that donates their left-over food to charity, unchanged from 2018 levels (58%).
While there is an onus on retailers to ensure they are eliminating food waste, there has been a reduction year-on-year amongst consumer who claim that they have reduced the amount of food they are buying to try and cut down on their levels of food waste (63% from 65%).
Local Produce
Shoppers are also very conscious of where the food they purchase is produced with almost two thirds (64%) of shoppers claiming they try and purchase food which is produced in Ireland or as close to Ireland as possible, largely unchanged from 2018 levels (63%).
In line with shoppers wanting retailers to become more accountable in terms of food waste, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of shoppers (42% from 36%) who claim they would be more likely to shop in a shop that used sustainable methods to power it.
For further information and more in-depth analysis in relation to consumer behaviour and what they want to see from retailers when it comes to food waste and sustainability, please contact Robbie Clarke at Empathy Research.
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