Food Benchmark 2023, a study launched annually within the scope of the initiative of the same name, coordinated by Edenried GroupIn collaboration with 25 government and university partners, it concluded that there is growing concern about creating a healthy diet.
According to the study, 90% of participants say they pay more attention to the balance of their meals, and 51% indicated that they changed their habits in the past year to start eating better. In the context of inflation, where 97% of people expect food prices to continue to rise, and while 50% of Portuguese people already spend more than 30% of their monthly budget on food, the loss of purchasing power requires more and more budget cuts. this is the address. On the restaurant side, more than half admit they are serving fewer customers. In an effort to meet new consumer expectations, 52% indicated that they already offer healthier, more balanced options.
These are some of the main conclusions of Food Barometer 2023, the study coordinated by the Edenred Group and some of its partners, including the Directorate General of Health and the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto. Food Program (Combat Obesity through Supply and Demand), which aims to promote a balanced diet at lunch through various actions with employees, companies and restaurants.
In Portugal, Food Barometer 2023 received more than 1,300 responses, highlighting another global trend, already noticed in the past year: the role of meal vouchers (meal card) in ensuring the food budget, as well as improving the quantity and quality of food.
People want to eat better, but they can’t afford it
Food Barometer reveals that 90% of Portuguese people are more aware of healthy eating. 93% of participants cited health as the main driver for wanting to change habits, followed by the search for more dietary diversity (72%) and environmental/animal issues (68%).
Even 51% of Portuguese say they have changed their eating habits in the past year to eat better. 84% also revealed that they take the nutritional index into consideration in their choices. However, considering the total number of lunch and dinner meals, only 23% of people eat between 11 and 14 healthy meals per week. 28% of Portuguese eat between 7 and 9 balanced meals, 30% between 4 and 6 meals, and 20% less than 3 meals.
Given the context of inflation, which last year prompted people to reduce food expenditures, half of the Portuguese people spend more than 30% of their monthly budget on food, while 17% spend more than 40%. According to data from EurostatIn 2019, Portuguese food spending averaged about 16% of the monthly budget.
With 97% of Portuguese believing that food prices will continue to rise in the coming months, currently, 70% of people say that at the end of the month, they will not have money for food and will need to use other means to pay for meals. It must be remembered that although the amount of exempted support on meal cards is €9.60 per day, according to a study conducted by… Ntsunda For Edenred, the Portuguese receive an average of €5.77 per day. If they earned higher wages, people believe they would be able to: improve the quality of their meals (75%), increase the amount of food for lunch (54%), buy more products to prepare meals (87%), and go to restaurants more. Often at lunch (42%).