BIOFACH 2014: How do we feed the world in future?

BIOFACH, the World’s leading Trade Fair for Organic Food, celebrates its 25th anniversary from 12–15 February 2014. A good reason to look into the future of shopping for food and the consumers’ values in this interview with the author of Consumer Value Monitor Food, Dr. Mirjam Hauser, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, Rüschlikon/ Zurich (CH).

Dr Hauser, in the Consumer Value Monitor Food you focus on values that influence our decision to buy food. What are today’s key values?

It is interesting that there are not only one or two key values, but a whole handful. The most obvious are the choice and quality of the products, plus convenience – being able to obtain everything easily and practically. Also important is health. And sustainability, of course, which has been around for a long time and will become even more important in the future. There are also three more large value fields: first “cosy and familiar”, second “close to source” and third “investing a lot of time”. Here is the dilemma that consumers do not know how to fulfil all these wishes at the same time. This is hardly possible in everyday life. We are all constantly on the move and work a lot, so no time is left for preparing food. People try to optimise routines or eat something quickly when underway. At the weekend and in their leisure time they try to compensate for this and eat in company. The social component is very important.

What value areas, desires and realities will influence our shopping in future? Are there any noticeable changes?

We have noticed one exciting new topic, namely “tried-and-tested” and “carefree” eating. This is closely linked with the value “originality”. Above all, people would like to eat in a carefree way. They want to enter a shop and simply buy food without having to consider whether it is all “good” food. So here it is a question of reducing the complexity.

What role is played by regionality, organic and fair trade?

They form a very important value field and are encompassed by sustainability. All three segments have the potential to profit from this positive value. It becomes critical when trust is abused. For example, cases of greenwashing have negative effects, or also if regionality cannibalizes organic.

Does this mean that regionality is more important than organic in the value field of “close to source”, “cosy” and “familiar”?

Interestingly, this is not the case. Organic, regionality, fair trade and slow food are as good as identical in the perception of the people we interviewed. They cover all positive value fields. Ultimately, the consumer cannot judge whether the regional conventional tomato or the organic tomato from Spain is “better”. This is also a question of complexity reduction.

Which of the shopping channels and product groups are more likely to be winners and which are more likely to be losers?

From the consumers’ viewpoint, discounters and supermarkets have already reached their peak. Weekly markets, organic shops and tNike Zoom Shift Shoe