Almost three-quarters (73%) of British shoppers prefer to buy products with environmentally-friendly packaging, according to IRI’s European Shopper Insights Survey.
The poll of 3,300 respondents from across seven European countries, including the UK, found British consumers scored higher than other European countries when it comes to concerns over non-recyclable packaging.
But, the amount of UK consumers preferring to buy products that respect the environment were lower than the rest of Europe, at 67%, compared to 82% in Italy, 78% in Spain and 71% in France.
Only 39% of UK consumers said they would be willing to pay more for organic produce compared to a European average of 52%, while less than half (42%) said they would accept higher prices for “Km 0” food - produce which has travelled zero kilometres.
Senior regional insights manager at IRI, Olly Abotorabi, said: “There is increasing awareness of the impact that the use of plastic in grocery retail is having on the planet, with heart-rending images of floating plastic islands in the ocean and animals caught up in food and drink packaging circulating regularly in the media.
“As a result shoppers are more aware than ever of the impact their purchases can have and are making the connection every time they pick up brands in store.
“Packaging has become a key product attribute that marketers need to feed into predictive purchasing models for their brands, alongside other factors that can influence shopper behaviour, such as size, flavour, colour and price.
“Demonstrating the value their brand generates for the category alongside commitment to a so-called ‘circular economy’ for packaging - evolving to a re-usable rather than single use packaging - will be key going forward. In future this could be key to keeping products on retailers’ shelves.”
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