A survey conducted recently by IBM (yes, IBM) shows that less than 1 in 5 consumers trust food companies to provide them with safe food. 1000 people were surveyed. Additional stats:

60% of consumers are concerned about the safety of food they purchase.

63% are knowledgeable about the content of the food they buy.

46% named peanut butter as a recalled product. 15% remembered spinach as a recalled product.

63%  purposefully changed their grocery shopping behavior in the past two years because they wanted better value for their money.

45% have changed shopping behavior to access fresher foods and better quality foods.

What you need to know:

If you’re wondering what IBM has to do with food, they’ve prepares an answer here:

With innovative digital technology and powerful solutions, IBM is making sure food is traced properly as it passes though an increasingly complex global supply chain. IBM is also making that food heartier through biological research.

Will the recent spate of recalls, along with the rising obesity epidemic, and a new administration bent on change have a substantial effect on improving America’s diet?

Advances in information technology are helping information become available cheaply and easily. Manufacturers know exactly where they source every single ingredient. They should pass the information on to consumers.

With a bit of effort, they can create databases accessible to consumers online. Each of the ingredients of a specific product from a specific batch would then be traceable to it farm / laboratory origins.

What to do at the supermarket:

There’s not much consumers can do right now except demand more information from their grocer and from their favorite brands. If enough consumers will demand transparency, the information will start to appear.

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Why do all supermarkets seem the same?

Whether Safeway, Walmart, Shoprite or Publix, there’s a certain format they all adhere to. According to a recent article in the Economist:

It is because they are all versed in the science of persuading people to buy things—a science that, thanks to technological advances, is beginning to unlock the innermost secrets of the consumer’s mind.

And that science says that the fresh produce section should be near the entrance of the store and the first place shoppers begin their route despite the fact that

For shoppers, this makes no sense. Fruit and vegetables can be easily damaged, so they should be bought at the end, not the beginning, of a shopping trip. But psychology is at work here: selecting good wholesome fresh food is an uplifting way to start shopping, and it makes people feel less guilty about reaching for the stodgy stuff later on.

In fact, shopping is an irrational activity:

People tell market researchers and “focus groups” that they make rational decisions about what to buy, considering things like price, selection or convenience. But subconscious forces, involving emotion and memories, are clearly also at work.

The article goes on to describe elaborate monitoring systems that discern shoppers’ tastes and “moment of truth” when reaching out to put a product in the shopping cart.

While the science is certainly impressive, the end result is people buying products their bodies don’t necessarily need, and paying heftily for the pleasure of doing so.

What you need to know:

Americans spend an average of 24 minutes shopping at the supermarket, and 7 minutes more at the checkout counter. During that time the supermarket tries to achieve a a balancing act – Exposing the consumer to as many products as possible without ticking her off.

The supermarket would like to increase the “dwell time” and have people stay even longer at the store. They employ good lighting, tempting aromas, promotions, calming music, and anything else they can think of to keep you lazily pushing your cart along all the aisles.

Any technology that ultimately gets a consumer to spend more money at a supermarket or on a specific brand, will be quickly embraced by vendors and manufacturers.

What to do at the supermarket:

Say no to autosuggestion and consumer psychology by knowing what to expect when you go shopping.

Prepare a shopping list in advance.

Stay away from those aisles with little or no nutritional products.

Shop on a full stomach so you won’t be tempted by the aromas from the in house bakery.

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