Farrelly and Mitchell

Insight

The processed food industry: how does it meet the consumer perception challenges?

61% of consumers believe that there are health benefits in modern food processing. With changing consumer preferences and trends driving innovation in the food industry, we investigate what it means to choose ‘fresh’ over processed and whether it’s possible to truly buy food that’s straight from the ground or tree it grew from, or the farm it was reared on.

How Consumer Perceptions are Challenging the Processed Food Industry

Today’s health-conscious consumer tends to think twice while walking down the processed food aisle. Rather than thinking of the convenience of the products, they are now considering the perceived low nutritional quality and negative news stories.

The same consumer is laden down by a busier lifestyle and may not have the luxury of time to prepare a fresh meal three times a day. Studies show that around 70% of the people eat at their desks. This presents quite a dilemma to the food and retail industries.

Consumer perception of processed foods

According to a study carried out by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), consumers have a negative attitude towards and an increasing awareness of processed food. For the study, 1500 adults who identified as the primary grocery shoppers were interviewed.

The results showed that 43% were not in favour of the consumption of processed food; a perception found across all demographics and age groups.

Download Full Insight

Author

Chaitanya GRK

Regional Director (MENA)

Chaitanya is Regional Director (MENA) and heads Farrelly & Mitchell’s Dubai office, overseeing the UAE and our wider MENA operations. He has over a decade’s worth of business advisory experience, mostly advising clients in MENA food and beverages industries, including agriculture primary processing, dairy, meat, poultry, and various consumer food sectors.