In 2021, the German Institute of Food Technologies (Deutsches Institut für Lebensmitteltechnik e.V.) and the State Initiative for the Food Industry (LI FOOD) conducted a nationwide survey with 1,029 consumers on the subject of consumer trust in food labels. In this context, the extent to which innovative process technologies are trusted was also looked at.
The study shows very clearly that a very high level of trust is placed in particular in the labels for organically produced food. The German organic label is in first place, trusted by 58% of respondents ("much trust" and "very much trust") (see Figure 1). At almost 100%, this label also has the highest level of awareness of all the labels surveyed. It should be emphasized that the EU organic label, which is comparable in terms of standards to the German organic label, is trusted far less (top score at 43%), while the organic labels of the Bioland and Demeter associations lie in between these. Here, the Bioland label has a far higher level of familiarity compared to the Demeter and EU organic seals. In addition, the "Vegan" and "Ohne Gentechnik" labels in particular enjoy a relatively high level of trust with a simultaneously high supported level of awareness.
Graphics: DIL e. V.
The least trusted labels are the CO2 label "Stop-Climate-Change" and the EU-protected indications of origin (PDO/PGI). The result for the latter label in particular is remarkable, as EU origin protection is a system that is almost 30 years old. Despite this long period of time and EU-subsidized advertising campaigns, consumer confidence in this system has only been built up to a small extent.
Furthermore, the fact that there is no sustainability label in the German food market that is known to consumers, that also addresses life cycle assessment, is a shortcoming in view of the ongoing issue of climate change. Only by means of such a label can the consumer be enabled to make a conscious and thus possibly more sustainable purchase decision. On the other hand, there is a label for health, the NutriScore, which already has a very high level of awareness of almost 90%. However, the problem here is that only around 38% of consumers trust this label and around 20% have very little or little trust in the NutriScore. Should this become mandatory by law in the future, an educational campaign would be necessary as part of an introduction to strengthen confidence in this indication, so that it is actually used by consumers as a decision-making aid in the supermarket.
Graphics: DIL e. V.
In the second section of the survey, various process technologies were presented to consumers. For example, it was explained what is behind the Crispr-CAS method, pulsed electric field processes or in vitro or cell-based meat. After this introduction, the respondents then had to indicate on a scale from 1 (no trust at all) to 5 (very much trust) to what extent they trust the technologies presented. The high-pressure process came first by a wide margin. From the consumer's point of view, the plant-based proteins and meat alternatives already widely available on the German market are therefore ahead.