Key Takeaways
- Experts and practitioners are the most credible voices for consumers: Academics, scientists, and chefs receive the highest ratings from consumers for helping people eat healthy and environmentally friendly diets, underscoring the importance of expertise combined with practical relevance.
- Food and beverage companies and the UN occupy a middle ground: Consumers rate food and beverage companies at a similar level to the UN, with more consumers seeing their performance as satisfactory rather than very good. This suggests recognition of a role, but limited confidence in their ability to lead dietary change on their own. NGOs are also in this middle position, though they receive slightly better ratings.
- Governments, public figures, and the financial sector face the greatest skepticism: National and sub‑national governments, celebrities, influencers, and the financial sector attract the highest shares of poor ratings, indicating significant credibility challenges in influencing everyday food choices.
Global public opinion research from Grains of Truth, conducted by GlobeScan in partnership with EAT, shows a clear hierarchy in how consumers view the performance of different actors when it comes to helping people eat healthy and environmentally friendly diets, with important implications for how dietary messages are communicated. Actors that combine perceived expertise with practical relevance are seen as the most credible, led by academics and scientists, and followed closely by chefs.
NGOs, international institutions such as the UN, and food and beverage companies occupy a more ambivalent middle position. Many more consumers rate their performance as satisfactory rather than very good, suggesting that consumers recognize the role they play, but have limited confidence in their ability to drive dietary change on their own. At the lower end of the spectrum are national and sub‑national governments, celebrities and influencers, and the financial sector, which attract the highest shares of poor ratings, reflecting skepticism about their relevance, motivations, or effectiveness in shaping everyday food choices.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The findings reinforce that credibility is central to influencing dietary behavior, with consumers responding most strongly to actors they associate with expertise, evidence, and everyday food decisions. For efforts aimed at encouraging dietary change, impact is likely to be stronger when trusted experts and practitioners are visible communicators. Governments and companies can play a more effective role by enabling, supporting, and amplifying these voices rather than positioning themselves as the primary spokespeople for dietary change.
Grains of Truth is a collaboration between GlobeScan and EAT. This fifth edition of the report series provides a review of consumer perceptions and attitudes toward our global food system, based on a global survey with close to 32,000 respondents. The insights gathered reveal consumer understanding, current behaviors, core motivations, and significant barriers faced in consuming healthy and sustainable diets. The goal of this analysis is to equip actors in the food system, such as governments, policymakers, producers, and retailers with the knowledge needed to respond to consumer desires and challenges, and to support the transformation of our global food system to one that is healthy, fair, and sustainable.
Survey Question: Please rate the performance of each of the following actors in your country to help people eat healthy and environmentally friendly diets. Please rate each actor’s performance from very good to very poor.
Countries surveyed: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Türkiye, UK, USA, and Vietnam.
