RFA Ethanol Podcast

Research Reveals Consumers’ Transparency Wants

John Davis

foodintegrity1New research is revealing consumers’ attitudes towards transparency from today’s food system. The information will be revealed at the upcoming Center for Food Integrity (CFI) Food Integrity Summit, Nov. 17-18 in New Orleans.

“Transparency is no longer optional. It’s a consumer expectation for those in today’s food system,” said Charlie Arnot, CEO of The Center for Food Integrity. “We are going to take an in-depth look at what that means and how to go about achieving it.”

As part of the research, a quiz posted on the CFI Facebook page invites consumers to discover their “food personality” by answering questions about their favorite weekend restaurant or typical lunch. They’re also encouraged to provide additional feedback on food system transparency at www.TransparencyTable.org by answering open-ended questions like, “What do you want to know about the food you and your family eat?” and “What would you like food entities to be more transparent about?”

Results are being collected through Oct. 1. The comments will be combined with quantitative data from CFI’s annual consumer research to develop transparency best practices for the food system.

“This year’s study determines exactly what consumers want to know about their food and how they prefer to access the information,” Arnot said. “We’ll also introduce a transparency index that can help companies determine their level of transparency and implement steps for improvement.”

Organizers say this will be a hands-on conference with concrete advice on how to become more transparent.

Food