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Food Labelling Research - Consumer Information Requirements

Project Code: L01003

24/03/2006

Background

This qualitative research project was conducted with a representative sample of the food buying general public to understand:

– what information consumers want and need to see on food labelling in the future
– within this, what they feel should be provided on food packs and the most effective way of labelling
– what information could be taken off pack and delivered through supporting channels instead

Ten workshop sessions of between 2 and 3 hours were held with 8-10 respondents across a range of locations in the UK in February 2006. The workshop sessions combined general discussion around priorities and issues with a variety of data collection exercises (such as completing questionnaires and creating ‘ideal packs’) to look for consistent themes and draw conclusions.

Key Findings

• These consumers felt that labelling is often hard to use:
– There are often issues around legibility
– Variations in approach between different retailers and manufacturers also mean it is not always easy to predict where to find information on food packs or the means by which
that information will be delivered (e.g. words or icons)
– Certain information that is currently provided lacks value to consumers because they do not know what it means (e.g. around packaging processes) or are unsure how much
credibility/authority can be placed in it (e.g. assurance schemes)

• If it is presented in an understandable way, consumers were keen to retain most of the information that is shown on food packaging currently as they claim to use it either in the
purchase or the usage moment (both of which mean that packaging is an appropriate and convenient place to find information). Furthermore, even if it is not information they have
a current need for, they perceive they may have a potential need in the future. Overall, comprehensive information on packaging allows them to exercise choice.

• Some information was identified, however, as superfluous to requirements and possible to take off the exterior of the packaging (to either be provided off the pack and through
another channel, or inside the pack instead)

• Given the overall desire to retain information, the priority of consumers in improving labelling practice was to simplify the process of seeking information by standardising a range
of aspects of pack design, specifically:
– Placing related information together in groups (to assist intuitive searching)
– Standardising where groups of information are found (such as on the front, back or inside of packs) and how it is displayed (e.g. consistent use of icons or a ‘Contains’ box, etc)
– Using best practice design principles (such as, use of boxes and colour coding for delineating different information, etc)

Conclusions

Overall, the findings indicate there will be a benefit in encouraging industry to conform to certain principles in grouping and separating information, while retaining their own design
styles, and taking some specific information off pack. Developing new ways of displaying some information (e.g. using an icon to denote packaging processes) and providing appropriate supporting information/education so that new and existing icons/marques can be used more effectively will also assist consumers in using information successfully.

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