Consumers are more likely to support regenerative agriculture and other sustainable farming practices when their benefits are communicated in ways that are personally relevant, a new report by EIT Food Consumer Observatory has found.
According to the report, Making Agriculture Matter: Toward Consumer-Centric Positioning of Resilient and Regenerative Agriculture, while consumers generally care about how their food is produced, terms such as ‘resilient’ and ‘regenerative’ agriculture carry little weight unless they are translated into clear, personal benefits.
Making it relevant
“Consumers are telling us they want farming to change, but ‘resilient’ and ‘regenerative’ are not the words they shop with,” commented Klaus G. Grunert, professor of marketing at Aarhus University and lead of the EIT Food Consumer Observatory.
“When we translate those practices into things people can taste, trust and verify, such as better flavour, fewer chemicals, a farmer they can picture, or an independent label they recognise. The interest is there. The opportunity for the sector is to lead with the benefit, not the technique.”
Responsibility for delivering the benefits of regenerative agriculture should lie primarily with governments, farmers and the wider food system, rather than with individual shoppers, the study noted.
It also indicated a preference for combining traditional farming values with modern technology, with a blend of established farming principles and innovative production methods viewed as more credible and commercially realistic than a return to traditional practices alone.
The researchers tested three different messages around regenerative agriculture, and found that a narrative centred on ‘food that actually nourishes’ resonated particularly strongly.
‘Strengthen food security’
“Resilient agriculture is one of Europe’s greatest opportunities to strengthen food security while restoring nature, improving farmer livelihoods and building more competitive agri-food value chains,” added Elvira Domingo Varona, director of resilient agriculture thematic leadership at EIT Food.
“At EIT Food, we bring together farmers, industry, innovators, researchers, investors and policymakers to accelerate this transition. Through collaborative landscape initiatives, innovation and new financing approaches, we help turn regenerative agriculture from isolated pilots into scalable, economically viable solutions. By connecting the entire food system, we are creating the conditions for resilient agriculture to deliver lasting environmental, economic and social impact.” Read more here.
