Why Europeans are less willing to try novel foods
- European consumers show low intent to try cultivated or engineered foods
- Awareness of food tech is high in UK and Italy but ineffective
- Asian countries like China and India show strong interest and awareness
- Malaysia leads with 26% willing to try cultivated meat
- European preference for natural foods hinders food tech adoption efforts
Europeans are among the least willing to try novel foods. Awareness of new food technologies makes little difference – the answer is usually ‘no’, ‘non’, or ‘nein’.
That’s not the case everywhere. Enthusiasm for food tech is peaking on the other side of the world, according to Lumina Intelligence research commissioned exclusively for FoodNavigator.
Europeans don’t want to try novel foods
Whether it’s cultivated meat, precision fermentation-derived dairy, or genetically engineered crops, new food technologies struggle to whet consumer appetites in Europe.
It would be easy to point to regulatory constraints: the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is notoriously slow to assess novel foods and ingredients.
But in reality, few countries have fast-track approval systems. That hasn’t stopped places like China and India from being far more open to trying new foods than more food-conservative nations such as France, Italy, and Germany.
The inside scoop on novel food appetite
Future Food: How the UPF Debate is Reshaping Consumer Behaviour is a new report from Lumina Intelligence, commissioned exclusively for FoodNavigator.
Drawing on a survey of 9,500 consumers across 13 countries, it explores global perceptions of health, ultra-processed foods, and food tech. The findings highlight the key barriers to novel food adoption - and what innovators can do to spark greater consumer appetite.
The countries surveyed include the UK, US, China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, and Singapore.
According to the new report, Future Food: How the UPF Debate is Reshaping Consumer Behaviour, awareness of new food technologies makes little difference.
A total of 9,500 consumers were surveyed across 13 countries, and Spain, Germany, and France all had below-average awareness.
The UK and Italy were among the highest in terms of awareness, but also had below-average intent to try these foods.
For novel food demand, look to Asia
Survey responses from Asia reveal very different findings. India and China both have above-average awareness of new food technologies and an eagerness to try.
There is one obvious exception: Japan. Here, consumers have both low awareness of new food technologies and low appetite for them.
But that doesn’t change the fact that consumers in Asia remain the most open to trying specific food technologies, like cultivated meat. Malaysia leads, with 26% of consumers saying they probably or definitely would consume cell-based meat. China and Singapore follow closely behind.
What is cultivated meat?
Cultivated meat, otherwise known as cultured, lab-grown or cell-based meat, is produced by cultivating animal cells in a bioreactor. The result is muscle and fat cells that are developed into familiar products, like burgers or nuggets.
Asian countries were also the most uncertain: Japanese and South Korean consumers were among the most likely to answer ‘not sure.’ Not a single Asian country fell into the ‘probably or definitely would not consume lab-grown meat’ category. That distinction belonged to European countries – namely France, Italy, and Germany.
Why is Asia open and Europe closed?
The question on innovators’ lips is: why is Asia so quick to embrace food tech while Europe remains hesitant?
In Europe, the research shows that consumers prefer natural and traditional foods. This presents a higher hurdle to food-tech adoption in Europe than in Asia, explains Flora Zwolinski, senior insight manager at Lumina Intelligence.
This hurdle is highest in France and Italy. “Here, there are strong culinary traditions and an emphasis on cooking from scratch with fresh, quality produce and consequently, a low desire for processed food or food made using a technology – simply put, foods they view as non-natural."
Distrust of the companies and science behind food tech is more prevalent in Europe (32%) than in Asia (24%), but it’s not a top barrier. Zwolinski suspects there’s generally more distrust of establishments and corporations in Europe, while consumers in Asian markets show a greater acceptance and culture of adopting technology to benefit the nation. Compared with Europe, many Asian regulatory environments likely have less red tape, too.
Another point worthy of consideration is food safety. Again, it’s not the biggest driver of consumption, but food technologies can offer better food hygiene – which is deemed more important in Asia (31%) than in Europe (21%), where it’s more likely to be taken for granted.
The next step for innovators is boosting food tech appetite in Europe. Want the answers? Join FoodNavigator and Lumina Intelligence at Future Food-Tech London for the full findings.
Jess Spiring, editor-in-chief at FoodNavigator, and Flora Zwolinski, senior insight manager at Lumina Intelligence, will be presenting the new report, Future Food: How the UPF Debate is Reshaping Consumer Behaviour, at Future Food-Tech London (24-25 September)
Future Food: How the UPF Debate is Reshaping Consumer Behaviour
- Date: 24 September 2025
- Time: 10:15-10:30am
- Location: Main stage
