Case: Food ingredients

“It doesn’t say sweetener does it?”

Zapera’s Nordic food survey, which has been conducted for the third year in a row, reveals that it is now sweetener that the consumers are most worried about. Last year it was sugar that the consumers were most worried about, but now the focus has changed from sugar to sweetener.

The Swedes have apparently seen through the launching of “light” products with a low sugar content and sweetener as replacement. This year it is perceived very positively if it says “no sweetener” on the packaging. This conception is particularly strong in Sweden if you compare with the other Nordic countries.

Every second woman is worried about the contents of food. The level of concern has remained constant during the three years, that Zapera has conducted the surveys about Swedish food brands, but what the consumers worry about is changing. Women, middle-aged metropolitan consumers and health conscious consumers that most often eat healthy food and often work out are the most worried.

Every second consumer reads the informative labeling and the nutrient label on products they buy for the first time. They especially examine the portion packed ready meals, sausage, cold meat and brown bread. It is important for the consumers that the chicken is produced in Sweden. But they also prefer locally produced food and in particular when it comes to milk, bread, cow meat and pork.

More people know about “standard” labeling this year and more people look for the correct labeling. The full report contains complete data for Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. Contact Zapera if you would like to order the report or have a personal presentation of the data.

Source: Zapera News, Issue 28, Februaury 2008