Food miles least of shoppers' worries

Photo / Greg Bowker

British shoppers care more about the price of fresh produce than where it comes from or how much of an impact it has on the environment, Otago University research suggests.

The research has been welcomed by New Zealand exporters - many of whom fear their produce may be perceived as undesirable because of the carbon dioxide emissions used in transporting it.

The study was conducted to see whether concerns around food miles (how far food has travelled before it reaches the consumer) were an important consideration in consumers' buying behaviours.

Researchers surveyed 251 shoppers leaving supermarkets to find out why they had bought some items.

Just 5.6 per cent noted country-of-origin as a reason.

However, when the researchers surveyed 250 people in UK "high streets" about their purchasing preferences, 21.5 per cent said food miles would stop them from buying New Zealand products.

Lead author John Knight, an associate professor in the university's marketing department, said the difference between what consumers said and what they were doing might be explained by their need to appear socially desirable.

Exporters say New Zealand-grown produce is responsible for less carbon dioxide than goods grown and sold in the UK - even when shipping is taken into account - because of factors such as much more efficient farming.

Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson was pleased to hear that the study had backed up what he suspected.

"We deployed an Emissions Trading Scheme in New Zealand and a lot of the rhetoric leading up to the 1st of July was that if New Zealand didn't have an ETS, we would have this reputation damage in the market place.

"I have always disputed that - as have our major export leaders - and this survey really backs up that in at least 96 per cent, if not 100 per cent, of the cases, having an ETS in New Zealand is actually irrelevant to our reputation."

Mr Nicolson believed the country-of-origin debate had been driven by supermarkets wanting a point of difference.

"This report ... says to me that an ETS to maintain reputation is the last thing the other side of the world is worried about."

Food and Grocery Council chief executive Katherine Rich said that while the research highlighted the known gap between consumer preferences and actual purchasing, there would be a significant problem for producers and exporters if those preferences translated into action.

"Perceptions rather than rational beliefs take a lot of work to shift in markets. We can't be complacent when it comes to New Zealand's messages about our food production efficiency."

FOOD CHOICES

What shoppers care about most:
* Price: 25 per cent
* Brand/variety: 23.5 per cent
* Portion size: 12 per cent
* Country of origin: 5.6 per cent