Global trends
WHETHER it be food or drinks, the consumer will soon demand transparency and traceability before making a purchase.
Meat and Livestock Australia chief marketing and communications officer Lisa Sharp discussed the key “mega trends” contributing to consumer trends.
This was one of the hot topics at the MLA Fork to Farm seminar at Beef Australia 2018.
“For the last 10 years we have (completed) a study and asked people if they are eating less meat, and then asked them why,” she said.
“The biggest reason for them eating less meat was the price.”
The work of animal welfare groups – the likes of PETA, RSPCA, Animals Australia and WWF – contributed to 8 per cent of consumers opting away from meat, she said.
However she explained the continual growth of technology allowed consumers to access the correct information about the companies behind their products. Ms Sharp used well-known ice cream brand Ben and Jerry’s as an example of this.
“Ben and Jerry’s were looking to advertise and they managed to improve their productivity without changing any of their methods,” she said.
“The only thing they did differently was they took the lid off of their product and that allowed the consumer to see what was inside the tub and that made the consumer want to purchase their products.”
MLA general manager for research, management and innovation Sean Starling touched on the impact technology could have on future grocery shoppers.
“In Milan, there is a new interactive supermarket called COOP, which gives the consumer all the information they can know on the products,” he said.