Food system

Consumers will shape the trends of the future

Consumers will shape the trends of the future

Food consumption has changed in the last decade, now the consumer is more aware, informed and interested in sustainability.

Consumers’ behaviors around food have changed in the last ten years. A new profile is rising, one that demands products adapted to a certain lifestyle, place of residence and degree of digitalization. These are more conscious and savvy consumers, interested in the nutritional value of food and environmental sustainability.

For Joxe Mari Aizega , general manager of the Basque Culinary Center, a first-class pioneering center on gastronomy, it is necessary to rethink the education of consumers as well as of chefs and restaurateurs, so that, “food sustainability is perceived as a creative and positive challenge.”

Food sustainability as a creative challenge for consumers

Pedro Álvarez, , co-founder and general manager at Ivoro Food Innovation Hub and Mimic Seafood, says that if consumers made the right choices, many challenges in the system would be addressed. However, there is a lack of will to make those choices.

Beatriz Romanos , a food technology and food innovation expert, founder of Techfood Magazine, invited experts to analyze the role that the food industry, restaurateurs included, can play. Leaders managing this type of services have high impact on opinion. There is a brand-new opportunity every day to connect with restaurant-goers with a menu in their hands.

Influential chefs have an opportunity to tell a story (sustainability, nutrition, health, production, labelling) and have impact on our lifestyle and habits.

Empathy and awareness

In the future of food, the consumer will be an agent of change. They will value having their aspirations and needs as human beings taken into account.  This awareness will take them to support the companies and brands they see as honest, emphatic and generous.

One initiative to empower consumers to decide on what type of food they eat and at what price is called Who’s the boss? The Consumers’ Brand, led in Spain by  Annaïck Locqueneux,.

Consumers have a say throughout the product creation process, including selecting the farmer from whom they will be buying a certain product.

This is groundbreaking.  Deciding where our money goes is new, we are no longer consumers, we are “consum-actors”.

Our actions as consumers can make a difference. There are lots of people in Spain, especially young people, who want to effect this change.

This platform enables consumers to find out about the origin of the product, the manufacture, packaging materials used, and even meeting who is producing the food we eat. There is a dialogue between producers, distributors and consumers that makes the latter part of the process.

“An informed and motivated consumer is much better than an ignorant, passive consumer”

Also recommended

Fighting climate change: data, investment, innovation and bold decisions 

Fighting climate change: data, investment, innovation and bold decisions 

Scientist Vaclav Smil offers insights into climate change, the evolution of the energy model and the possibilities of re[…]

Read more
The food of the future must be based on a healthy and sustainable Food System for all.It this possible?

The food of the future must be based on a healthy and sustainable Food System for [...]

Future Trends Forum expert Walter Willett, a, global authority on Nutrition and Public Health, tells us how to achieve a[…]

Read more
Changes in the food system

Changes in the food system

The experts of the Future Trends Forum of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation detect the main changes that will occur in[…]

Read more

Related experts

Pedro Álvarez
Pedro Álvarez

CEO y Cofundador en -ivoro food innovation hub & mimic seafood

Joxe Maria Aizega
Joxe Maria Aizega

Director en Basque Culinary Center

Lastest News

Lecciones aprendidas para las aulas del futuro 

Lecciones aprendidas para las aulas del futuro 

Herramientas como las habilidades blandas, la capacidad de comunicación, el uso de la tecnología o el pensamiento crí[…]

Read more
IoT is advancing at full speed, what do we do about cybersecurity?

IoT is advancing at full speed, what do we do about cybersecurity?

The positive aspects of this technology are many and varied, but there are also some risks that would be wise to keep in[…]

Read more
Traditional and Digital health therapies, together and mixed up.

Traditional and Digital health therapies, together and mixed up.

Could digital medicine increase our life expectancy? Hopes (without hype) for a promising future.

Read more