SUSFOOD2: Towards Sustainable Food and Drink Choices among European Young Adults: Drivers, Barriers and Strategical Implications

Most consumers claim to be willing to buy sustainable food products, however the share of responsibly produced food in total consumption has remained low. To understand the reasons for this gap, there is a need for further investigation of various factors influencing actual sustainable behaviour. The existing research mostly focuses on how individual consumer characteristics (e.g., environmental concern, consumer identity, and family considerations) influence sustainable choices. Macro (e.g., food culture) and structural (e.g., political regulations, national labelling system) causes of sustainable consumption tend to be ignored despite their importance. To address this issue, SUSCHOICE project had a two-fold purpose: (a) to identify the effects of different factors (macro, structural and individual) influencing consumers' food and drink choices in four European countries and (b) to evaluate the public policy and marketing strategies for promoting consumption of sustainable food and drinks. SUSCHOICE focused on young adults as they represent the consumers of the future. The studies were conducted in four European countries (Italy, Germany, Norway, and Romania) to account for different geographical, economic, and cultural conditions. The research activities covered four areas: (1) macro and structural factors, (2) individual food choices, (3) future trends and (4) new strategies. The methodological approach combined both qualitative and quantitative studies such as document and media analysis, consumer surveys, and in-depth interviews with different types of stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, food producers, environmental organizations). To study macro and structural factors, the stakeholder interviews were conducted in the four involved countries. These interviews indicated that collaboration between actors along the whole value chain was the most desirable action for the implementation of sustainable food systems. Furthermore, a media analysis was performed in each country (more than 2,00 newspaper articles in the period of five years). It revealed that the discourse around sustainable food mainly covered three topics: new diets and food trends; innovation and investments in sustainable food production; and consumer involvement in public events promoting sustainable food. To understand individual food choices, data were collected from around 8,000 young adults from Germany, Italy, Norway and Romania through an online consumer survey. The results demonstrated that sustainable choices were mainly driven by motivations related to health, socio-cultural values and perceived effectiveness of environmental protection measures. Young consumers tended to prefer products with domestic origin and organic certification. Moreover, they demonstrated interest in carbon footprint labels and eco-friendly packaging. In the next step, SUSCHOICE identified food sustainability trends and developed future scenarios based on forty in-depth interviews with young adults. The most desirable future scenarios were the ones where consumers play an active role in sustainable development. The factors identified as particularly relevant for engagement of young consumers were environmental considerations, generational connections, and curiosity. At the same time, the young consumers pointed out that established habits, time restrictions and skepticism towards green marketing were the main barriers of sustainable behaviours. In the final project phase, it was conducted one hundred online Q method-based interviews, where young consumers evaluated the efficiency of different strategies aimed at more sustainable food and drink choices. Affordable prices, economic support to sustainable producers, and clear labelling of sustainable food were chosen as the most desirable actions in all investigated countries. In conclusion, the SUSCHOICE findings highlighted the importance of four action areas for promoting sustainable food choices among young European consumers: (1) make the information about sustainable food more open and transparent; (2) encourage social sustainability in a supply chain perspective; (3) support education initiatives combing practical elements and entertainment; (4) foster innovation among producers and consumers through intersectoral collaborations and focus on sustainable lifestyle. As a result, SUSCHOICE provides new knowledge on sustainable food consumption in Europe, which is highly important for reaching the goal of turning the EU into a resource-efficient, green, and low-carbon economy.

SUSCHOICE har flere viktige implikasjoner for et bredt spekter av interessenter. Den gir anbefalinger til bedrifter (matindustri og matforhandlere) og beslutningstakere om hvilke strategier som kan være effektive for å fremme bærekraftig matforbruk i Europa. I tillegg bidrar SUSCHOICE til å øke forbrukernes bevissthet rundt bærekraftig mat, noe som kan ha langsiktige positive effekter både på helse, miljø og dyrevelferd. SUSCHOICE gjør også et betydelig bidrag til forskning ved å utvikle et nytt teoretisk rammeverk som oppsummerer effekten av ulike faktorer som påvirker matvalg. SUSCHOICE resulterte i et økt tverrfaglig internasjonalt forskningssamarbeid, og derfor transnasjonal kunnskapsutveksling og læring mellom de involverte forskningsorganisasjonene. Dermed demonstrerer SUSCHOICE en klar europeisk merverdi ved å bidra til å løse felles problemer, legge til rette for deling av ideer, og oppmuntre til strategisk arbeid mot et felles mål om mer bærekraftig matforbruk.

Most consumers claim to be willing to buy sustainable food products, however the share of responsibly produced food in total consumption has remained low. This attitude-behaviour gap can partially be explained by the individual consumer characteristics, which means that macro and structural factors of sustainable consumption tend to be ignored in the most studies. There is a need to consider a wider range of determinants of the sustainable food and drink choice. To address this issue, SUSCHOICE has a two-fold purpose: (a) to identify the effects of different factors (macro, structural and individual) influencing consumers’ sustainable food and drink choices in four European countries and (b) to evaluate the public policy and marketing strategies for promoting sustainable food and drink consumption. SUSCHOICE focuses on young adults as they represent the consumers of the future and influence food choices of both previous and future generations. The project will result in creating a new theoretical framework reflecting the complexity of sustainable consumption choices and provide new knowledge on sustainable food consumption in Europe, which is highly important for reaching the goal of turning the EU into a resource-efficient, green, and low-carbon economy. Partners come from four countries (Italy, Germany, Norway and Romania) representing different cultural and geographical contexts and food and drink styles. SUSCHOICE will employ triangulation approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods (e.g. in-depth interviews, transnational surveys, discrete/structural choice models and scenario development) to provide a high credibility of the results. Multidisciplinary nature (combination of marketing, consumer sociology, environmental economics, innovation, entrepreneurship, regional policy, and rural economics) will allow analysing sustainable consumer behaviour in an integrated manner by using different theoretical perspectives.