Price exceeds access as the main barrier to healthy eating for consumers
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), together with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Nielsen Global Connect, published a revealing report on the state of consumer health, nutrition and wellbeing around the world. How the Consumer Industry Can Boost Healthier Eating, marks the first in a series of reports from CGF’s Collaboration for Healthier Lives Coalition--a global movement led by manufacturers, retailers, public health authorities and academic institutions to empower global consumers to adopt healthier lives.
To create this report, CGF and BCG amassed 15 interviews from global CEOs within the retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. To gather a robust, global snapshot of today’s consumer, Nielsen Global Connect and BCG in 2019 , surveyed 7,000 global consumers from China, France, Mexico, Turkey, the UK and the US, across a wide range of demographics. The result: a comprehensive study that captures powerful and telling global sentiment from both the consumer and business landscape.
“Health is becoming a business imperative. By taking CEO and citizens’ perspectives, this report enables us to understand how companies can take action on their own and with others to have a meaningful impact. We invite everyone to join the Collaboration for Healthier Lives Coalition to build a more sustainable and inclusive economy”, said Isabelle Grosmaitre, One Planet. One Health Initiatives Catalyst, Danone and Marcus Osborne, Vice President, Walmart Health, and CGF’s Collaboration for Healthier Lives Coalition Co-Chairs.
Key insights
According to the How the Consumer Industry Can Boost Healthier Eating Report:
● Price Outweighs Access as Top Consumer Barrier to Eating Healthy,
Despite 80% of consumers citing price as a barrier to buying healthy food, 85% said they would shop more often at a retailer that is actively promoting healthy solutions. That said, it should be stated that low-income or rural communities were the most likely to feel they were not achieving a healthy lifestyle.
● Achieving a healthy balanced diet is a global struggle for consumers
Nearly one-fourth (23%) of consumers admit to struggling to achieve a healthy, balanced approach to diet
● Consumers, CEOs Recognise Diet and Hygiene as Key Health Metrics
CEOs stated that a healthier diet is both a moral and a business imperative for the industry. In fact, interviewed CEOs believed their most material impacts on consumer nutrition would come from increased transparency and health education, proactive company actions—especially in affordability, formulation and the accessibility of healthier foods—and the use of government regulation to ensure a level playing field. They felt that some of these initiatives would be effective in isolation, while others would benefit from industry or industry-government collaboration.
“Consumers have become increasingly interested in health and wellness in recent years, yet a myriad of hurdles often get in the way of intention matching action”, said Olivier Lamare, Retail Leader, Nielsen. “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shift consumer habits toward the price- and health-conscious, retailers and manufacturers have an opportunity to win on transparency, price and taste--and help fuel healthier lifestyles”.
Khaled Tawfik, BCG Managing Director and Partner, said, “We at BCG consider Collaboration For Healthier Lives important for three reasons: the broad commitment from manufacturers, retailers, public health institutions, civic societies, and academics to contribute to a common goal of healthier consumption; its practical impact through working on the ground where people shop in the localities; and its potential to scale impact through working together, lifting and shifting what works across geographies, and digitally activating efforts to reach the younger population. Our research confirms that consumer expectations of the industry on this topic are high and we are very happy to support the CGF and its members on this important topic”.