Consumer Priorities Shaping Future Food Systems
How do consumers around the world define healthy and sustainable food, and what is stopping them from acting on their intentions?
Grains of Truth 2025, produced by EAT in partnership with GlobeScan, captures the views of nearly 32,000 consumers across 33 markets to explore attitudes, behaviors, motivations, and barriers shaping the future of food systems. The findings highlight a powerful global desire for diets that support both personal health and planetary well-being alongside a clear disconnect between aspiration and everyday reality.
Key Findings:
- Affordability is the biggest barrier: Despite high interest in healthy and sustainable diets, cost remains the single greatest obstacle globally, followed by availability and lack of familiarity with sustainable brands and with the concept of healthy and sustainable foods.
- Personal health drives action: Consumers are most motivated by tangible health benefits such as reducing disease risk, with environmental benefits resonating most when linked to personal outcomes.
- Knowledge gaps limit progress: Many consumers underestimate the impact of dietary choices such as reducing meat and dairy, highlighting the need for clearer definitions and guidance.
- Trust shapes influence: Scientists, academics, and chefs are seen as the most credible voices for driving change, while governments and food companies face ongoing trust challenges.
Why it Matters
Closing the gap between consumer intent and behavior will require making healthy and sustainable food affordable, accessible, appealing, and clearly defined, aligning products, policies, and communications with what consumers value most.
While the 2025 EAT‑Lancet Commission outlines the scientific case for food systems transformation, Grains of Truth 2025 captures public perceptions, highlighting where solutions must resonate with consumers to succeed.
This is the fifth and final edition of the Grains of Truth report series.
