Horsemeat scandal has left legacy of consumer distrust

With the fallout from the horsemeat scandal still dominating headlines, new research for The Grocer shows the food and drink industry has an enormous job on its hands to restore consumer trust.

The Him! Shop Waves survey revealed just over a third (37%) trust the industry to sell food that is safe. The shocking finding comes despite there being no evidence as yet that the horsemeat concerned poses any risk to human health.

More than two-fifths (42%) of shoppers said they did not trust the industry on food safety.

The one ray of light for big food retailers is that, of all the outlets that sell food, supermarkets are still the most trusted: 59% said they trusted supermarkets to sell safe food, compared with 36% for restaurants and 24% for c-stores.

And while discounters may once again have made big gains in Kantar’s market share league table this week, the fact that only 17% of shoppers trust them to sell safe food will be a worry, says Blake Gladman, research and insights manager at Him!

“Trust is an emotive word at any time for supermarkets and clearly the key word at present,” he says. “These results will come as a sharp wake-up call to retailers that they need to work fast and extremely hard to regain the trust of their shoppers.”

Shop Waves is a consumer survey conducted for The Grocer by him!, featuring answers to 50 questions posed to 500 online
respondents every month. Digital subscribers to The Grocer can receive the full results at thegrocer.co.uk/shopwaves. In
addition, manufacturers and retailers can request additional questions in upcoming surveys. For further information, or help ininvestigating the big issues facing shoppers today, please call him! on 0845 072 7667 or go to www.him.uk.com