Organic and Healthy Foods Have Room for Growth

Major Perception Gaps Across the Globe Towards ‘Fortified’ and Organic Foods

Popularity Held Back by ‘Pricy’ Image, Niche Distribution and Credibility

19 December 2005
Hong Kong

Consumers are yet to ‘buy’ the value of Organic Food and ‘Functional Foods’ fortified with added vitamins or supplements and promote specific health benefits, according to a study released today by ACNielsen, the world’s leading marketing research and information company.

In a global survey conducted on the Internet across 38 countries, ACNielsen asked consumers which of a list of foods promoting specific health benefits they purchased:

Consumer’s response to the purchase of these food types was mixed. Across the globe, a third of consumers surveyed claimed to have bought some of these foods regularly, with another one third said they would never consider buying such and one in 10 further admitted that they have never heard of some of these food types.

It seems that consumers in South Africa, Brazil, Chile and Mexico are the most convinced of the value of foods promoting health benefits. In South Africa in particular, the share of regular buyers of healthy foods ranks the highest across six out of ten of the surveyed food types. Latin America boasts the highest number of regular buyers of ‘iodine enhanced cooking salt’ presenting an interesting contrast with Hong Kong where there was a highest number of consumers (32%) who claimed never heard of such product among all. (See Table 1).

The top three functional food types that are more popular among Hong Kong consumers are: 1. Soy Milk (89%); 2. Whole Grain/High Fiber Products (83%); 3. Fruit Juice with Added Supplements/Vitamins (81%) and Fermented drinks Containing Good Bacteria (81%).

The twice-yearly global ACNielsen Online Consumer Opinion Survey, the largest of its kind, polled over 21,100 respondents – regular Internet users – in 38 markets across Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and in South Africa in May 2005 (See Table 2 for country breakdown).

Despite generally high awareness of various healthy foods among consumers globally, there are certain die-hards, especially in Europe, who have never bought foods of this kind or never heard of them. Of all markets surveyed, Denmark had the highest number of people who claimed never to have bought nor heard of ‘soy milk’ (94%), ‘milk with supplements/ vitamins‘ (94%), ‘bread with supplements/vitamins’ (83%), ‘fruit juices with supplements/vitamins’ (60%), and ‘iodine enhanced cooking salt’ (90%).  In Asia Pacific, South Korean ranked highest with 69 percent of its people having never bought nor heard of ‘cholesterol-reducing oils and fats’.

“As the findings indicate, lack of awareness, availability or even credibility are real barriers to the purchase of these Functional Food products and the health benefits they promote,” commented Ms Fanny Chan, Managing Director, ACNielsen Hong Kong.

On average, about a third of consumers in the four regions surveyed didn’t believe they really offered additional health benefits as they claimed. The distrust was the greatest in Asia Pacific, Europe and in South Africa towards fruit juices, while North and Latin Americans questioned oils/margarines that claim to lower cholesterol levels (Table 3).

Organic Foods - They’re Healthier for Us and Our Children

When it comes to organic foods however, the pitch seems to be a bit easier with Organic alternatives being purchased by the world consumers mainly for health reasons - over two thirds of survey respondents think that organic foods are healthier for them and their children. This healthy perception is consistently strong across Asia Pacific.

Europeans seem to be more conscious of the wider benefits of organic foods, such as protecting the environment. Nearly a fifth think organic foods conserve the environment, and 12 percent cited kindness to animals as the key reason for purchasing organic alternatives. However, in other regions, less than a fifth of consumers are aware of the environmental benefits of organic foods, and even less cited animal protection (Table 4).

Among the variety of organic foods, ‘Eggs’ (32%), ‘Vegetables’ (29%), and ‘Fruits’ (28%) were the most popular food types attract most regular buyers. At the other end of the scale, organic types of beverages, delicatessen and tea products were the least purchased by most consumers around the world. In Hong Kong, the organic alternative for Vegetables (24%) and Fruits (21%) got the most regular buyers while organic alternatives for Eggs (18%), Fresh meats (17%) and Fruit Juices (16%) took the rest of the top five positions.

Despite the relatively higher awareness of the benefits of organic foods, the high prices tagged along are regarded the biggest barrier to a wider acceptance among one third of Internet-users in Asia Pacific and over 40 percent of Europeans and North Americans. In Latin America and South Africa, availability is said to be more of an issue. Interestingly, lack of availability prevails over lack of credibility as a reason for not purchasing organic foods globally (Table 5).

The general sense among consumers who wouldn’t buy organic products is that they were usually more costly. “There is an opportunity for marketers to find a positioning for foods claiming health benefits to be credible and not prohibitively expensive”, Ms Chan added.

“Manufacturers and retailers must also understand the geographical differences in terms of acceptance and perception of organic food. For example, in Asia Pacific, perceptions of price of organic foods is more a challenge in eight out of 13 markets studied, and in Thailand and China in particular, credibility turned out to be the major consideration”, Ms Chan continued.

The global ACNielsen Online Consumer Opinion Survey is a regular syndicated online consumer study, gathering information from regular users of the Internet around the world on their attitudes and preferences, consumption of media, products and services across different markets.   ACNielsen spearheaded the establishment of access pools in the Asia Pacific region in 1999.

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world’s leading marketing information provider.  Offering services in more than 100 markets, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior.  Clients rely on ACNielsen’s market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.  To learn more, visit www.acnielsen.com.hk.

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5