Survey: Consumers prefer to buy cheap than sustainable - Germans are afraid of the food supply

Created: 06/22/2022, 13:24

By: Kathrin Reikowski

Consumer prices in Germany are rising and rising (symbol image) © symbol image: Fabian Sommer / dpa

A current survey shows that the fact that food has become more expensive since the start of the Ukraine war also has a negative impact on sustainability.

Quakenbrück - High food prices, also due to the escalated Ukraine conflict, are increasingly influencing the purchasing behavior of people in Germany.

A recent study shows that people shop differently - and take their worries with them to the supermarket.

Almost 70 percent of those surveyed stated that they sometimes spend significantly more money on food than before the Ukraine war.

Around 24 percent stated that they spent the same amount of money on food as before the Ukraine war.

Sustainability aspects are being subordinated due to the Ukraine war - according to a survey

• The survey:

• Survey Type: Online

• Client: German Institute for Food Technology (DIL) in Quakenbrück and the state initiative for the food industry in Lower Saxony

• Period: April 21-25 (two months after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict)

• Participants: 1500 people

When shopping, those surveyed currently pay particular attention to special offers or cheap groceries.

For some people, climate and environmental protection aspects have taken a back seat, it said.

In contrast, during the corona pandemic, the sustainability aspects in particular were much more important for many people.

Some of the respondents do not consider the food supply from German agriculture to be crisis-proof

The survey shows that a secure national supply of food is important to people, as is the regionality of food.

However, it is surprising that 42 percent of those surveyed do not see German agriculture as crisis-proof.

The outbreak of war made people much more aware of their dependence on agricultural imports, said co-author of the study, Adriano Profeta.

A majority of those surveyed are concerned about food shortages: almost 80 percent of those surveyed stated that they considered a shortage to be likely, at least for individual food groups.

More than half believe that restrictions on cooking oils (67 percent) and staple foods such as flour, sugar or pasta (58 percent) or bread and baked goods (36 percent) are likely in the near future.

On the other hand, shortages of local fruit, alcohol or seasonal vegetables are considered unlikely.

(dpa/kat)