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2. Introduction

The current generation has seen a rise in food-related health issues, like diabetis, cancer and allergies. Information about environmental or food-related health issues can be quickly and widely distributed through online channels. Healthy food since has become a major concern for consumers in many parts of the world.

Other concerns that guide consumer decision making are the global threat of climate change, which has raised consumer awareness about unnecessary and non-compostable packaging, long transport ways, unsustainable agricultural practices, etc. Organic and fair trade products have become common commodities in many European supermarkets. Another "historic" perspective in this regard could be a movement of the 80ties, which saw the development of shopping centers outside of towns, that can only be reached by car. Since climate change has become an apparent issue, and again acceleratd through the covid 19 pandemic, more and more people have switched to using bicycles. Shopping centers far from town centers are not attractive for people without cars. At the same time the "death" of inner cities and smaller towns has become a real threat to retail businesses. City planners are very concerned about the impact of online shopping. Once these concern become mainstream knowledge they could start a new consumer trend of supporting small neighborhood businesses again.

The recent rise in cost of living might just as well spurr the next consumer trend as more and more people struggle to make ends meet. The hype of delicatessen, fad diets and novel foods of the past few years might die-off just as fast, once more and more consumers make their purchase decisons based purely on price. The food processing industry is already heavily researching ways to substitute expensive ingredients, or those which have fluctuating availability, with cheaper alternatives.

The short animated video below gives a brief overview of some of the current trends, which the following chapters will cover in more detail.