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Consumers want greener food, says expert (Manufacturing & Marketing Features June '09)

Shoppers are increasingly demanding cleaner, greener and ethically grown food, an international researcher has told the National Farmers Federation congress.

Professor David Hughes, of the Centre for Food Chain Research at Imperial College in London, told the peak farming body there was a move back to heritage varieties of fruit and vegetable, to traditional breeds of beef and to seasonal crops.

Prof Hughes said consumers will pay more for premium food and drinks they think are grown in a manner that benefits the environment, is ethically produced, and made from natural ingredients.

"Those three elements don't deliver you a premium, but they allow you to play in premium market spaces," Prof Hughes told the Brisbane audience.

"It's expected that they will be better for the environment, that they will be more ethically-produced, that they will be from natural ingredients.  The green bar, the sustainability, environmental bar, is going up."

This demand for "greener" food had ramifications for livestock and dairy producers because of perceived issues like greenhouse gas emissions, rainforest clearing for cattle production in the Amazon and dietary concerns related to meat.

Prof Hughes said campaigns such as former Beatle Paul McCartney's bid for a meat-free Monday and the council of the Belgian city of Ghent urging a meat and fish-free day once a week are gaining "real traction". 

This is celebrity-driven and it's been extraordinarily effective and purchasing behaviour has switched as a result," he said.

Consumers were also demanding more truth in labelling, he said.