The growing popularity of vegetarianism and veganism shows no sign of slowing down, with almost one in five (18%) of 18-24 year old believing the future will be meat free.
A new YouGov survey for ThoughtWorks asked over 2,000 people about shopping habits over the next decade. The findings revealed a change in the priorities of shoppers revealing increasing concern over the effects our food shopping has on the environment, our health and even local businesses.
Culinary consciousness does not stop there with almost one third (32%) sayinf that they would start seeking assurances the food they’re buying has been ethically sourced and from a sustainable supply chain.
A further 36% said that they would start placing increased importance on the geographical origin of the food they’re eating suggesting an increased focus on local businesses as well as energy waste in transporting goods.
The survey also found a significant change in our priorities over plastic packaging. In the next decade shoppers in the UK will care more about how environmentally-friendly their food packaging is, than how much extra it costs.
This contrasts with 57% of the public which said that the price of their food would be the main driver behind what to buy.
It marks a considerable change in buying attitudes as shoppers become more aware about the impact packaging, and in particular non-recyclable plastic packaging, can have on the environment.
This changing opinion isn’t limited simply to consumers. Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tescos, Iceland and others have all announced major pledges to change their packaging to either plastic-free or recyclable plastic over the next 5-10 years.
The third most important issue to consumers just below the cost was how much food we waste. Almost half of those asked (48%) said that food waste would be a major consideration for customers within the next decade.
Brits historically throw away around 11% of the value of the food they buy each week.