In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis we are still being urged to make climate-conscious, sustainable and ethical choices when doing our grocery shopping. But how many of us are really making those choices and which of the eco-labels and sustainable selling points are worth spending more for?

We asked our participants to identify whether they have consciously chosen and spent more on a product for any of the listed attributes. Using an online survey to minimise interviewer effects, anchoring to a recent time period and asking our participants to report actual behaviour rather than intentions were all important for the quality of results. However, our retail team would love to follow this up with some accompanied shops to dig into this in more detail – if this would help with your strategic objectives, please get in touch.

We’ve also put a spotlight on regenerative agriculture, something that has gained attention in recent years. Extensive studies are now taking place to identify the potential impact this could have for New Zealand but how many of us would pay more for these products at the checkout?

Awareness was low, with only about a fifth knowing what the term meant. However, once given a brief explanation, over two-thirds would be willing to pay more for a regenerative agriculture product. Willingness to choose and spend more therefore seems to be higher for regenerative agriculture than the existing eco-labels (though most wanted the price difference to be small).

If you have a food and fibre related question you would like to know the answer to, get in touch with Liz: liz@researchfirst.co.nz