Transparency – A Growing Push in the Global Food Industry
As food and supplement companies, we work tirelessly to provide the highest standards in food quality and safety while balancing ethical and environmental challenges within the supply chain. Food production trends show our customers are increasingly interested in the story behind their food. Consumers now more than ever what to see what’s behind the curtain. Consumers are even willing to pay a premium for products that are recognizable as meeting higher standards.
Within the global food industry, we understand the complexity of tracing just a single ingredient from farm to fork. Finding compelling and accessible ways to communicate a food's story builds trust and loyalty from customers. However, this is an opportunity to take advantage of using labeling and ingredient transparency. A survey from DNV, an assurance, and certifying body revealed product labeling accounts for 48.8% of consumer decision making.
What Does Data Reveal About the Push for Transparency?
Research validates that transparency has grown to play a dominant in consumer demand. Cited as the #1 trend in the food and beverage sector, a recent consumer survey found that six in ten global consumers are interested in where their food comes from. This cultural shift in food production trends and consumer activities includes prioritizing supply chain transparency, sustainably sourced ingredients, and nutritional products.
You as a company have an incredible amount of knowledge and information to share with customers. Find ways to share key insights into you’re the quality and safety of ingredients your source and industry practices performed. Along with nutritional food labels, choosing what we share relates directly to our target consumers.
A study presented in 2020 revealed that 69% of consumers said they would pay more for products labeled with recognizable quality and safety standards or certifications. What's more, 53% welcomed more transparency involving health issues such as product content, food safety, hygiene, and allergens. 55% of those surveyed wanted transparency in sustainability issues including the origin of ingredients, human rights, and healthy working conditions. And 38% affirmed that they're interested in environmental issues, such as producers' efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decreased water consumption.
The top-of-mind issue for consumers, however, was food safety. While 85% said they take the safety of packaged foods for granted, 55% agreed that they'd value more transparent information about food safety.
Food testing within the global food industry enables us to meaningfully communicate our high standards in food safety, ingredient transparency, product origin, and nutritional information. Food testing also increases our ability to apply for trust-building certification and assurances in food safety and quality standards.
What Does the Push for Transparency Mean for the Food & Supplement Industries?
One way to meet consumers' transparency expectations is through the standardization of nutrition labels. By making nutritional food labels consistent across all food products, consumers benefit because they are easy to read, allow comparisons between products, and provide reliable micro and macronutrient information.
Food industry trends show we build consumer trust through food labeling that communicates supplier verification. Customers can make well-informed decisions when we communicate food quality and safety assurances, sustainable and ethical efforts, as well as health-promoting evidence. Certification programs help to provide trust-building communication by adding familiar logos to multiple products with similar assurances or practices.
As mentioned above, the role of food testing provides the scientific documentation to highlight standards in food safety, ingredient transparency, product origin, and nutritional information. Documented food testing results are needed to apply for certifications as well as meet food safety and quality standards.
As manufacturers, we can request our suppliers to provide a Certificate of Analysis. Moreover, suppliers and producers can screen for various microbiological or chemical contaminants such as heavy metals or residual solvents. Eurofins' network of laboratories is dedicated to transparent services from quoting to sample submission to delivery of results. Our partners trust us with our nationwide network of ISO 17025- accredited laboratories, scientifically validated methods, a custom online ordering and results platform, and our local teams of customer support.
