41 Percent of Thai Consumers Check Food Labels Always the Most in Asia

27 October 2005
Bangkok

Bangkok, October 27, 2005 --- Half the world’s consumers understand the nutritional labels on food packaging only ‘in part’, just two in 10 ‘always’ check grocery labels, four in 10 do so only when buying a product for the first time and nearly three in 10 check them when buying certain food types, according to a study released today by ACNielsen, the world’s leading marketing research and information company.

The twice-yearly global ACNielsen Online Consumer Opinion Survey, the largest of its kind, polled over 21,100 respondents in 38 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and South Africa (See Table 1 for country breakdown). The study asked consumers around the world how much they understand food labeling, when they would check labels and what they check for as they do their grocery shopping.

On average, one fifth of consumers in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America ‘always’ check the nutritional labels on packaging, with Latin Americans the most label-minded, where a third of consumers claimed to ‘always’ check labels on packaged food. Thai consumers were among the world’s most attentive to nutrition labels with 41 percent claimed they “always” check the information on the package. Another Asia Pacific countries that made the world’s top 10 list were India (32%) and Malaysia (29%).

 “For manufacturers of packaged goods, the product’s nutritional proposition - whether it appeals to the specific selection criteria of the consumer - and the clarity of the information on the nutrition panel are critical at the point of product trial. Whether the product ‘contents’ meet the consumers’ selection criteria, and how easily the label is understood, can determine whether or not the consumer proceeds to purchase the product, or return it to the shelf,” said Mrs.Chantira Luesakul, Managing Director, ACNielsen (Thailand) Ltd.

And while consumers are checking labels, they don’t necessarily understand what they’re reading.  Half of the world’s consumers said they only ‘partly’ understand the nutritional labels on food, with 60% of Asia Pacific’s residents leading the world in this lack of understanding, followed by Europeans (50%) and Latin Americans (45%).  Most conversant with food labeling were the North Americans, with 64 percent claiming to ‘mostly’ understand food panels.

Out of the 13 Asia Pacific countries, In Thailand, the percentage of consumers who claimed not to understand food labels at all was barely one per cent with the rest claimed to understand it either mostly (40%) or in part (59%). New Zealand was the only country making it into the world top 10 list of understanding food labels, with 61 percent of Kiwis claiming to ‘mostly’ understand information on food labels.

“It is critical for manufacturers to make their labeling as relevant and clear to their consumers as they can, given consumers are increasingly making purchase choices based on the information on the packaging. If they can’t understand the label, they may not risk the purchase,” Mrs.Luesakul explained.

Globally, the ingredients most likely to be checked for by consumers were Fat (49%), Calories (43%), Sugar (42%), Preservatives (40%), Coloring and Additives (36% each). Not surprisingly among the five regions surveyed, consumers in North America and Latin America topped the list for most regularly checking out Fat, Calories and Sugar levels.

While Preservatives (47%), Fat (45%), and Coloring (43%), garnered the most attention from Asia Pacific consumers, it is Preservatives (55%), Calories (52%) and Colourng (50%) that Thai consumers are most concerned and claimed that they check the content of these on their food labels regularly.  

Further, when asked whether they knew the distinct difference between Saturated and Unsaturated Fat, a global average of 56 percent claimed to, which was fairly consistent across all regions surveyed. On the other hand, among the top 10 markets claiming not to know the difference, the Japanese ranked number one (73%) followed by two thirds of the French (69%), Taiwanese (63%) and Chinese (61%).

Compared to the rest of the Asia Pacific countries, Thais and Kiwis turned out to be the most ‘well-informed’ in terms of telling the difference between Saturated and Unsaturated Fats with 68 percent said they were aware of the distinction between these two Fat types, followed closely by Singaporeans (66%).

“Consumers the world over are screening out products containing ingredients they consider to be unhealthy for them, and making their own personal decisions about levels of fat, sugar, etc. In developing markets, consumers appear to be more concerned about preservatives and additives than they are about calories, while in developed markets consumer focus is on screening out products with contents that make them gain weight, and may reflect the obesity battle being faced in a number of these markets,” Mrs.Luesakul added.

###

Table 1

The 38 Markets Covered in the 2005 Global Consumer Confidence Study were: