How can food tech brands win consumer trust? Summary
- Most consumers want clearer labels on food made with new tech
- Lack of information stops many from trying novel food products
- Mycoprotein is widely used but still unknown to two-thirds globally
- Awareness of cultivated meat is low even in approved countries
- Clear, simple communication is key to building food tech acceptance
Much of food tech makes it sound like we’re living in the future. Dairy made without cows? Meat served up completely slaughter-free? And yet these technologies are very real, and in some geographies they have already landed on menus.
But there is a trend of novel foods like cell-cultivated meat or precision fermentation-derived dairy publicly entering the market and then quietly being pulled. At the same time, fresh research reveals consumers want more clarity when it comes to food tech.
How can food tech brands win consumer trust, and in doing so, land acceptance?
Consumers in the dark about novel foods
Globally, more than three quarters of consumers want clearer labelling for food using new technologies, and a similar number also want clearer information on how these technologies work.
That’s according to Lumina Intelligence research commissioned exclusively for FoodNavigator.
Interestingly, not every country has the same insatiable appetite for information. India, Malaysia and Singapore want clearer labelling the most, whereas that desire significantly drops off in Japan. The same is true in Germany.
Diving into specific novel food technologies gives a more rounded picture. Take mycoprotein, for example. Mycelium-based, mycoprotein is a form of single-cell protein derived from fungi. It’s used by one of the biggest players in meat alternatives, Quorn, and yet, two-thirds of consumers have never heard of it.
A total of 40% said they wouldn’t try mycoprotein because they don’t have enough information about it. If at this point brands still have their heads in the sand, they may be a lost cause: research reveals that by increasing consumer knowledge around mycoproteins, shoppers would be more open to trying it.
Cultivated meat and precision fermentation dairy: consumers need to know more
Cell cultivated meat is among the best known novel food technologies. Otherwise known as lab-grown, cultured or cell-based meat, it’s real meat made from growing animal cells in a bioreactor.
Globally, three fifths of consumers have heard of cultivated meat. But in some countries where regulatory approval has been granted, like in Singapore, Australia and the US, awareness is below the global average.
The big challenge facing food tech innovators is that just over half of consumers who haven’t heard of, or tried, cultivated meat, said they wouldn’t eat it. This is particularly prominent in Europe.
Precision fermentation-derived dairy is another food technology that stands out. Made from microorganisms that serve as ‘cell factories’ to produce complex molecules like proteins, precision fermentation is also not widely available.
In saying that, awareness is above average in countries like China, India, Malaysia and South Korea. The same cannot be said for western countries, where there’s an obvious need to drive awareness.
As to why consumers don’t want to try precision fermentation-derived dairy, the primary reason is a lack of information. There is a very real need for improved and widespread communications to better educate consumers, if food tech is to find consumer acceptance.
How can brands better communicate with consumers on food tech?
It’s clear that a significant barrier to food tech acceptance is in fact, a lack of clarity. Education is the biggest hurdle, alongside consumer preference for ‘natural’ products – and an aversion to anything that feels ‘unnatural’.
It’s hoped that explaining some of these food tech processes in accessible terms, and connecting them to familiar food traditions, will overcome scepticism and build trust.
Companies must use consistent language to help people become familiar with these products and understand how they fit into their lifestyles, explains Helen Breewood, senior market and consumer insights manager at the alternative protein-focused Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe.
When it comes to cultivated meat, companies should build familiarity by using simple metaphors to explain their production methods, she says. Working with chefs to showcase products and highlight the sensory qualities of these foods can also help.
And on precision fermentation, the insights expert suggests providing straightforward background information about the process is the way forward. “It clarifies understanding and can increase the appeal of these products to a range of consumers.”
Future Food: the inside scoop on consumer insights
You’ll find much more about hurdles to adoption and ways to build consumer acceptance in a new report from FoodNavigator and Lumina Intelligence. The exclusive research reveals consumer barriers to adopting not just new ingredients, technologies, and ultra-processed foods, but real opportunities to drive change and sales.
A total of 9,500 consumers were surveyed across 13 countries: the UK, US, China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, and Singapore.
