Sydney / AU. (npd) One-in-three Australian consumers are conscious of food and beverage product characteristics when eating out, according to NPD Group market research. Provenance – or products that are Australian grown and owned, prepared from local ingredients, or fair trade – was identified by 19 percent of consumers as their most top-of-mind characteristic at foodservice occasions.
When it comes to provenance, consumers aged 50 and over have a greater preference than the general population, with 22 percent conveying its importance. Millennials, on the other hand, are conscious of a much wider range of product attributes than other generations, particularly in regard to no/low added content, cruelty free, and high protein.
Within the foodservice channels, there is a distinct product gap between fast casual and traditional QSR outlets. Fast casual consumers have a much higher propensity for positive product characteristics than traditional QSR consumers, leading across every attribute, and most notably those relating to cleaning eating and cruelty free. Provenance remains the most important food and beverage characteristic at traditional QSR, whilst no added content is the most prominent at fast casual.
«Transparency is not an added bonus, but has become an expectation for consumers when it comes to the ingredients they are putting into their bodies. Combined with the fact that they have also grown more health conscious, consumers crave more knowledge about what they are eating», said Ciara Clancy, Director, Australia Foodservice, The NPD Group. «Conveying honesty, wholesomeness, and simplicity in their product offerings are the pillars for operators to succeed in the foodservice industry today».
