An 'International Sustainable Food Barometer' developed by Sodexo with support from Harris Interactive is shedding light on how perceptions and behaviours influence sustainable diets.
Conducted in 2023 across Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the study involving over 5,000 participants, aims to pinpoint obstacles and levers for effecting change in eating habits, pushing for a more sustainable approach.
Key takeaways from the barometer include universal awareness of the urgency to change eating habits, with 79% of respondents considering sustainable behaviours an urgent matter.
Despite this, it has also identified a gap between aspirations and actual behaviours.
While 56% per cent of participants in the study believe their food is already sustainable, entrenched habits including consuming dairy (78%) and meat (71%) persist, creating a reluctance to embrace less conventional alternatives.
"Sodexo, operating in 45 countries and serving 80 million consumers daily, is a privileged observer of changes in people's behaviours and aspirations.
Through this international sustainable food barometer, we seek to understand aspirations, obstacles, and concrete levers for changing individual practices", says Sophie Bellon, Chairwoman of Sodexo’s Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer.
Through the International Sustainable Food Barometer, we seek to understand aspirations, obstacles, and concrete levers for changing individual practices
The barometer also emphasises that the benefits of sustainable food are more motivating when perceived as individual rather than collective.
Health benefits (46%) and expected financial savings (35%) emerge as primary motivations for adopting more sustainable eating habits.
Anna Notarianni, Sodexo Group’s Chief Impact Officer, comments: "By highlighting the gap between respondents' acute awareness of the challenges surrounding sustainable food and their actual behaviours, this barometer provides us with guidelines to change firmly rooted habits".
Sodexo has outlined four priority levers to achieve a 90 per cent reduction in emissions by 2040 across its entire value chain.
These include promoting local and sustainable farming practices, designing new sustainable recipes, optimising energy use, and tackling waste through the expansion of its WasteWatch programme.
