Consumer Insights Tracker – April Bulletin 2022

This publication provides a monthly summary of the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) latest consumer insights tracker data.

Last updated: 2 November 2022

Background

The Consumer Insights tracker provides up-to-date findings each month on consumer behaviour and attitudes in relation to the following topics:

Food insecurity (including food affordability)
Food availability
Consumer concerns in relation to food
Confidence in the food supply chain and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as a regulator

This monthly bulletin summaries the key findings for each of these topics from wave 9 of the survey (conducted 15-18th April 2022).

Monthly data tables are available to download via the FSA’s data catalogue. Tracker bulletins dating back to April 2022 are available to view via the Consumer Insights tracker webpage. More detailed commentary, and timeseries analysis is published periodically on the Consumer Insights tracker webpage.

Methodology

The Consumer Insights tracker survey is conducted online via i:Omnibus (provided by Ipsos UK) with a representative sample of approximately 2,000 adults, aged 16-75, living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The data is weighted to represent this population on the key demographics of age, gender, working status and social grade. Further details on the survey methodology can be found in the full publication reports.

Throughout this bulletin, where ‘significantly’ is used to describe a change over time, it refers to a statistically significant increase or decrease (at the 95% confidence level).

Key Findings

Food Affordability and Food Insecurity

In April 2022:

14% of participants reported that they had used a food bank or food charity in the last month. This is not significantly different to the previous month (15%, March 2022) but is significantly higher than April 2021 (10%), and significantly higher than when tracking began in April 2020 (8%).
23% of participants reported that they had skipped a meal or cut down the size of their meals because they did not have enough money to buy food in the last month. This is not significantly different than the previous month (22%, March 2022), however it is significantly higher than the year prior (April 2021, 19%) and is significantly higher than when tracking began in April 2020 (18%).
33% of participants reported feeling worried about being able to afford food in the next month. This is not significantly different to the previous month (31%, March 2022), however it is significantly higher than April 2021 (19%). This is also significantly higher than when tracked began in April 2020 (28%).
84% of participants reported feeling concerned about food prices. This is significantly higher than the previous month (81%, March 2022). There has been a significant increase in consumer concern over food prices since November 2021 when tracking for this question began (71%).
75% of participants reported that their shopping had ‘got more expensive’ in the past week. This is not significantly higher than the previous month (74%, March 2022) but is significantly higher than when tracking began in September 2021 (49%).

Food Availability

In April 2022, 32% of participants reported feeling worried about there not being enough food available for them/their household to buy in the next month.

This is significantly higher than the previous month (29%, March 2022) and significantly higher than the same month last year (19%, April 2021). However, this was not significantly different to when tracking began in April 2020 (31%).

Concerns about the Food Industry

54% of participants reported feeling concerned about the healthiness of the food in their personal diet in April 2022. This is not significantly different from the previous month (52%, March 2022). When tracking began in November 2021, 53% reported feeling concerned about the healthiness of food in their diet.
60% of participants reported feeling concerned about animal welfare in the food industry in April 2022. This is not significantly different from the previous month (57%, March 2022). When tracking began in November 2021, 62% reported feeling concerned about animal welfare in the food industry.
60% of participants reported feeling concerned about sustainability/the impact of food production on the environment in April 2022. This represents a significant increase from the previous month (56%, March 2022). When tracking began in November 2021, 62% reported feeling concerned about the impact of food production on the environment.

In April 2022:

37% of participants felt concerned about the safety of food produced in the UK, compared to 53% who felt concerned about the safety of food imported from outside the UK
40% of participants felt concerned about the quality of food produced in the UK, compared to 54% who felt concerned about the quality of food imported from outside the UK.

Confidence in the Food Supply Chain

The proportion of participants who reported that they were ‘confident’ in the food supply chain was 67% in April 2022. This is significantly lower than when tracking began in October 2021 (74%), but not different to the previous month; 69% (March 2022).