Ethical Foods: New Marketing Study Clues For Niche Meat Producers

There is a new marketing report recently released that has useful information for those livestock producers involved in targeting the niche meat market. Many producers have looked into organic, natural, grass-fed, and the concept of local. This report focuses on a new consumer preference, "ethical foods", and came about through a survey that was designed by Context Marketing¹ (www.contextmarketing.com) and conducted by Deciper, Inc., a marketing research services provider specializing in online survey programming and data collection.

So what does "ethical foods" mean?

According to the report the research found that “ethical” is a broad, flexible and often highly personal term when consumers apply it to food purchased in supermarkets or specialty stores.

Ethical food is defined by a number of attributes and perceived benefits regarding how a food is produced or processed, its impact on the environment, adherence to quality and safety standards, and even where food is sold and how it is priced.

Findings of the survey include: 

• Ethical claims help consumers identify high quality, safer foods. While many consumers want their food purchases to help make the world a better place, such as by protecting the environment and improving the treatment of farm animals, they also find that credible ethical food claims assure them about food quality and safety. When asked to define the qualities of an “ethical food,” most consumers readily emphasize health and safety benefits along with more altruistic concerns.
• Ethical foods build brand engagement.
  When consumers find ethical claims credible and relevant, they often develop a deeper emotional connection with the brand. Many consumers report that they are more willing to learn about ethically produced foods and recommend them to others, and are more likely to believe other quality claims made by the brand. Most important, 69% of consumers report they will pay more for food brands they see as “ethical.” 
• Women and younger adults are more responsive to ethical claims. While there is broad agreement on the importance of ethical foods among men and women in all age groups, women are generally more responsive to ethical claims for altruistic as well as health and safety reasons, and are willing to pay a little more for ethically produced food. Younger adults also are more attentive to many ethical claims than their older counterparts and are more likely to act on those beliefs when it comes to food purchases.

Given our proximity to both the San Francisco and Sacramento areas, producers targeting these markets should download and read the full report as it will help them with their product branding and advertising.

One of the most interesting findings was that the Eat Local Movement was gaining momentum. Sixty-six percent of survey respondents agree that locally produced food is always preferable and nearly half (49%) believe that for a food to be considered ethical it should be produced locally. More findings and intriguing statistics are in the full report. You can download it as a pdf file at:

http://contextmarketing.com/sources/feb28-2010/ethicalfoodreport.pdf

¹Context Marketing is a San Francisco Bay Area consulting firm that helps companies develop communications strategy and initiatives addressing the societal issues that influence brand preference and corporate reputation. The firm has worked extensively with companies and organizations in the food and beverage area.