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Food Labelling: It's one in the bag for recycling
We are constantly being encouraged to ‘read the labels’ on our food. But when it comes to what people actually want to see on their labels, latest research from MINTEL finds that recycling details are now giving nutritional and dietary information a run for their money. With 84% of all adults now looking for a packaging's recycling credentials*, Brits are just as interested in this as they are in the product’s fat content. What is more, recycling details are now actually considered more important than salt (80%), sugar (79%) and calorie content (70%). "The popularity of recycling is testament to the success of the green lobby in getting consumers to think about the packaging our food comes in. Initiatives like colour-coded bins from local councils and fortnightly waste collection have also raised awareness of recycling. With legislation such as ‘Pay as you throw’ being mooted for the future, it would seem that people's interest in recyclable packaging is only set increase," comments David Bird, senior consumer analyst at MINTEL. "But one of the major issues here is that consumers are currently bombarded with a host of different recycling labels on food packaging. To encourage more consumers to recycle more often, it needs to be as simple as possible for everyone to sort out what packaging can be recycled and what can't," he adds. Packing it in
Today's consumers are hungry for information. The rising interest in the food we eat, as well as growing numbers of health, environmental and ethical concerns means that the amount of information we Brits want from food labels is increasing. But at the same time, environmental awareness about excessive packaging means that the space available for information is only likely to get smaller. "To give consumers everything they want, manufacturers need to look at some creative alternatives to standard food labels. They could consider providing further details on websites or shoppers could be encouraged to scan labels on screens in store to pull up further nutritional, health and ethical information about the product," suggests David Bird. (Can't) read the small print
MINTEL's exclusive consumer research also shows that the majority of Brits still struggle to get to grips with food labels. Indeed, 55% of adults find the print on food labels too small and just under half (48%) feel that the packaging is often too cluttered. Meanwhile, the information is completely lost on some, as almost three in ten (28%) can’t even find what they are looking for and around one in five (17%) don’t trust the information anyway. Amongst the older generations the problems are even more pronounced, as 84% feel that the print is too small and three in five (62%) say that labels are too cluttered. "Food manufacturers today face the ongoing dilemma of providing the level and variety of information that shoppers want in a limited amount of space. And given the UK’s ageing population, the issues of the print size on labels and packaging being too cluttered are only likely to become increasingly important in the future," comments David Bird. Stick to one system
With the current emphasis on improving the national diet, the government has been keen to introduce a single system of front-of-pack nutritional labelling to avoid confusion. But there are now two systems (traffic light vs Guidline Daily Amounts) in use, which are dividing retailers, manufacturers and consumers. And then to make matters worse, some manufacturers and retailers have tried to compromise by developing their own hybrid systems, which has only served to increase confusion. * includes information on whether the packaging is biodegradable or compostable
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