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Why taste isn’t the most important factor when we buy groceries

Why taste isn’t the most important factor when we buy groceries

As food prices continue to soar, it can be a challenge to stretch your dollar at the local grocer.

A recent Global News Ipsos poll shows that Canadians are purchasing groceries based on the price of the products available — not freshness and taste.

59 per cent of people surveyed considered price to be one of the most important factors when choosing which food products to purchase. Additionally, 51 per cent of respondents said that freshness was one of the most important factors. However, only 32 per cent of the people polled chose taste as one of those important factors.

John Cranfield, professor of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Guelph, says he’s not surprised by the poll results.

“In the last several years we know that there have been some more than expected food price inflation,” Cranfield explained. “Some food products, like meat products in particular, have had a fairly high increase in prices. So price has come to the forefront for a lot of consumers.”

However, Cranfield doesn’t believe that the poll results signify that freshness isn’t important to consumers.

“What’s interesting is Ipsos Reid is saying price is trumping freshness, but the difference between 59 per cent and 51 per cent after you start accounting for the margin of error, doesn’t necessarily sound terribly large to me. I suspect that price and freshness are equally important to a lot of consumers.”

Cranfield also says that this trend isn’t necessarily new. A 2010 Ipsos Reid survey, compiled for Agri-Food Canada, showed that 69 per cent of people surveyed thought price was the most important factor when they are grocery shopping. Quality was selected as the second most important factor then, too.

“Some might wonder why is taste so low in terms of importance,” Cranfield said. “I think part of that has to do with the fact that we as consumers are often creatures of habit. When we’re on a grocery-shopping occasion we will often buy what we bought the last time. So, taste may not be the most important factor in making an actual purchase decisions, because that food is part of your repertoire already.”

There are many factors that can affect the cost of food, and those factors vary depending on the commodity in question. Most recently, the weak Canadian dollar has caused the price of imported foods to go up.

“Right now, economically, we’re paying pretty much 25 cents on the [American] dollar, so that gets passed on to the consumer,” said Trevor Downey, president of Downey Farms in Ontario. “If we’re bringing in potatoes from California, we’ve got more costs for freight and trucking, and by the time you ship it to retail and they put their price on it, everything goes up in price.”

Downey says that one way to help keep grocery costs down is to buy local Canadian-grown products.

“Anything grown in Canada would be your cheapest, because you can stay away from that [American] dollar. Anything you buy imported is going to cost you more,” said Downey.

However, Cranfield disagrees that locally produced foods would be less expensive.

“You tend to see fewer of those products available,” he explained. “So the scarcity of something that is called a local food will often drive the price up. It’s probably more appealing to someone who has a little more disposable income.”

Both men agree, though, that economizing can help you get the most for your money.

“Maybe think about shopping at grocery store formats that are more value oriented, and take advantage of food products that are on sale. If you see a cut of meat on sale, buy it and freeze it if you can,” said Cranfield.

Downey added, “you’re better to spend your money on a whole food like a potato, than to go out and by a processed food, because you’re getting 100% of the nutrition on those whole foods. You’re just cheating yourself by buying processed foods that aren’t going to give you the same nutrition.”

He also recommends buying produce in bulk to get the best value: “You’re going to get way more yield on buying a fresh product, especially potatoes. A three or four dollar 10lb bag of potatoes can go a long way, and you can do so much with them.”