The food industry needs to reconcile the need for transparency and giving consumers clear simple messages, with the fact that shoppers say the amount of information they receive from many sources can be overwhelming. That was one of the messages from Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD in her address to the annual IGD Convention.
Research carried out by IGD and EDS for the convention shows that 43 per cent of people agree that the information they get helps them to make better choices but nine per cent feel that the amount of information provided makes choosing products more complicated.
“Consumers judge us in more ways than ever. It is by values and not just value. They care about health, ethics and sustainability but they do not want to wrestle with complicated decisions and trade offs. They want the industry to make it simple for them. Some of them are even stretching the boundaries of trust and are already delegating responsibility to the industry. They are looking for leadership and this is a great opportunity to provide it,” she said.
