Spain: Mercabarna presents study on feeding trends

During the fiftieth anniversary of Mercabarna, the wholesalers market, on Monday, the exhibition "50 years of evolution of food in Catalonia," will be inaugurated. The exhibit, which is based on a study commissioned by Mercabarna to the Fundacion Alicia, makes a journey through five characteristic refrigerators of each decade that reflect how our food has changed, especially in relation to fresh produce, from the 1970s until today. A sixth fridge will invite us to reflect on the future trends and challenges. The exhibition is displayed at the Palau Robert Gardens in Barcelona until May 11.

The exhibition's opening ceremony was attended by the Councillor of Commerce and markets and President of Mercabarna, Montserrat Ballarin, the CEO of Mercabarna, Josep Tejedo, and the director of Fundación Alicia, Toni Massanes. Several representatives of Catalonia's agricultural food sector also attended the ceremony.

At the occasion, Montserrat Ballarin said that "people should visit this exhibition because food and gastronomy are part of our history and our culture; fresh food is part of our Mediterranean diet, and it is recognized internationally; and to know the role of Mercabarna as a key piece to ensure this diet, our fresh food trade model and the Agriculture of proximity, which are aspects that Barcelona's City Council wants to preserve and ensure in this city." In this sense, the President added that "many cities around the world would like to have the amount and variety of fresh produce that Barcelona has nearby thanks to Mercabarna."

The exhibit also details the major socio-economic changes of the last half-century, and how these have affected our tastes and consumption habits. As stated by Toni Massanes, the director of Fundacion Alicia, "we are what we eat, so this is a review of what we have been for the last 50 years. It allows us to realize how we have changed the way we eat, almost imperceptibly, and it must help us raise awareness because deciding what we eat is important." Regarding the food of the future, Massanes said we "need to be more responsible and worry more about what we eat. Our decisions affect the sector, the landscape and the ecology much more than we believe."

"50 years of evolution of food in Catalonia" will be a touring exhibition and it is going to be taken to new spaces in Barcelona in the coming weeks.

Mercabarna has also presented a new study: Four current and future food trends in Spain. The analysis, which was commissioned by Mercabarna's Trends Observatory to the specialized consultancy Psyma, addresses the consumers' fresh product preferences in our society. According to the CEO of Mercabarna, Josep Tejedo, "the study indicates that consumers increasingly want healthy, natural, easy-to-prepare products that bring them pleasure. In addition, there's also an increase in the predilection for proximity and ecological alternatives that improve their consumption experience in terms of quality and, at the same time, contribute to improve sustainability, boost trade, and enhance local production. At the same time, consumers also want pleasure and new experiences, which is why their interest in the exotic flavors of other cultures has also increased."

Thus, the Trends Observatory states that the first big food trend has to do with health issues, as eating healthy food is increasingly more important in today's society. New vegetable ingredients, the arrival of the flexitarian phenomenon and the increase in "sin" products are the three most decisive phenomena of this trend. Consumers surveyed also emphasize their preferences for products without sugar or without chemical preservatives. Despite the decline in consumption of animal protein, the study shows that the respondents have a positive perception of new meat products that incorporate key aspects for health, such as lower salt and fat content (83% appreciates these options), the incorporation of natural preservatives (almost 80% considered it positive) or meat that is free of antibiotics (over 70%).

According to the study, the interest in natural products that are grown in the proximity or are ecological is the second most important motivational aspect. Respondents are increasingly looking more at the origin of their fresh produce, and they especially value its proximity, seasonality, and animal welfare. In this sense, 59% eat fruits and vegetables grown 0 km away with some frequency and almost 70% cares about the farming conditions of the animal foods they consume. This point also includes an increase of organic product demand (about 17% said that they consumed organic fruits and vegetables with some frequency).

The third trend that the study highlights is the increase in the consumption of fourth and fifth range products, i.e. those that are processed to increase functionality. Thus, most Spaniards valued the arrival into the market of bipack, tripack, individual consumption, or active containers, which preserve the foods in controlled atmospheres so that they last longer.

The results of the study also confirmed that the fourth and last trend was that consumers preferred pleasure and experimentation at lunchtime. The analysis reveals that the Spaniards wanted to continue seeking new experiences in food.

Globalization and the increase in travel, as well as the coexistence with foreigners that have just arrived in Spain, have led to an increase in the people's interest for exotic flavors and new blends or fusions. 41 percent of the respondents said they liked to buy new food products, of from other cultures and countries, as well as craft products (53% usually buys them).

The study was conducted during the month of April 2017; more than a thousand men and women between 18 and 70 years in Spain were polled, and the researchers also conducted in-depth interviews with people responsible for product trade, food retail, and catering companies.

 

More information: