Quality and taste top food priorities in a survey across 11 countries, while the environment is chosen by 8% of respondents

Quality is indicated by 76% of participants, taste by 56%, price by 45%, and safety by 41%. Environmental sustainability and animal welfare appear much less frequently among the main criteria. The survey allowed at most three choices, so the results do not measure all consumer concerns.

Quality and taste are the most frequently cited criteria when purchasing food in a Eurobarometer conducted in 11 countries outside the European Union, while environmental sustainability and animal welfare rarely rank among the top three stated priorities. Quality is selected by 76% of respondents, taste by 56%, price by 45%, and safety by 41%. For the environment, the proportion is 8%, and for animal welfare it is 5%.

In brief

1.Quality is chosen by 76%, taste by 56%, price by 45%, and safety by 41%. The question concerned food and beverages of any origin, not only European products.

2.Environmental sustainability is selected by 8%, while animal welfare is selected by 5%. Participants could indicate at most three factors, so the absence of a criterion does not prove a lack of any interest in it.

3.Safety is mentioned by 65% in China and 64% in Thailand. Price is chosen by 56% in the United Kingdom, compared with 27% in China and India, showing differences between the stated priorities of the markets.

4.The 11,119 online interviews targeted people aged 20–55 from urban areas. The results do not represent the entire population of the countries, and changes to the sample limit comparison with 2021.

Participants could choose at most three factors from a list that also included product authenticity and health-related aspects. The question concerned agricultural products, food, and beverages in general, regardless of origin. The percentages therefore describe which factors rank among the main stated influences on purchases. They do not mean that the remaining respondents reject environmental protection or animal welfare, nor that a single criterion determines every purchase.

The report, dated March 2026 and presented by the Commission in July, is based on 11,119 online interviews conducted by Demoscopy between 4 and 11 February, at the request of the European Research Executive Agency. People aged 20–55 from urban areas were interviewed, selected as a segment with greater access to imported products. The study covers China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the results do not represent the entire population of these countries.

Behind the overall hierarchy, differences between markets emerge. Food safety is chosen by 65% of respondents in China and 64% in Thailand, compared with 41% across the survey as a whole. Price is indicated by 56% in the United Kingdom and 54% in Japan, but by 27% in China and the same proportion in India. According to the report, quality remains the dominant criterion in all countries, but the other priorities do not carry the same weight everywhere.

Animal welfare provides another example of differences concealed by the overall result. In the United Kingdom, 13% include it among the main purchasing factors, compared with 5% across the entire survey. Environmental sustainability is mentioned by 8% of British respondents. Even here, the report finds that these criteria remain behind quality, taste, price, and safety.

Responses also differ according to household composition. Quality is cited by 81% of participants with two children, compared with 70% of those without children. Price is selected by 52% of respondents without children, compared with 40% of those with one child and 39% of those with two. These are associations between respondents’ characteristics and their answers; the survey does not isolate the effect of children from that of income or other differences between households.

The results are relevant to how the EU promotes its food products in external markets. The Commission co-finances campaigns and organizes activities that highlight the quality and diversity of European products. The 2026 promotion program provides €205 million for sustainable and high-quality agri-food products, both within and outside the Union. The budget covers promotion in both types of markets, not exclusively exports.

The stated hierarchy provides information about the attributes consumers cite when choosing products, but it does not test which advertising message would work better. A criterion omitted from the top three may remain relevant to the same person. The data also do not show how much respondents would be willing to pay extra for a product with a lower environmental impact or higher animal-welfare standards.

The report also compares the results with the 2021 edition, but methodological changes require caution. The number of interviews per country increased from approximately 500 to 1,000, the proportion of women and men changed from 70/30 to 50/50, and the United States was added in 2026. These changes limit interpreting the differences as trends. The survey describes the stated priorities of the urban segment studied, without demonstrating a general change in purchasing behavior.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/calitatea-si-gustul-domina-prioritatile-alimentare-intr-un-sondaj-in-11-tari-iar-mediul-este-ales-de-8-dintre-respondenti