Consumers vote for food safety
QA 15/05_B
Consumers vote for food safety
Australian consumers have voted food safety as their top factor likely to influence which retailer they shop at, but only by a very narrow margin. The 2014 survey of nearly 16,000 shoppers put food safety just ahead of proximity, value, trading hours and even price. This followed a similar result from the 2013 survey.
However, the most recent survey also looked at shopping behaviour of rural shoppers versus their urban cousins, revealing some significant differences.
- Country shoppers number one driver is food safety with ‘good quality fresh fruits and vegetables’ coming in second (ninth for the city shopper)
- City shoppers are most interested in their retail option being close to home (tenth for country shoppers) followed by food safety
55.8% of shoppers identified high standards of food safety as their driver in selecting where to shop.
So, what does this tell us in the fresh produce industry?
- It shows how big the risk is – should a retailer or anyone else, harm or destroy their reputation as a provider of safe food.
- Consumers are unlikely to know just what ‘food safety standards’ are but it is a given that they exist at retail – if that expectation extends to suppliers, how many are not certified to a food safety standard?
If your business needs any assistance with implementing Food Safety controls, contact Brismark on 3915 4222.