A slow road from meat dominance to more sustainable diets: An analysis of purchase preferences among Finnish loyalty-card holders

Abstract

Achieving a sustainable and healthy diet requires increased replacement of red meat with more sustainable foods. There is a call for novel methodologies to assess the potential of different interventions and policies in enhancing the transition from the current to more sustainable choices. We aimed to characterize consumer clusters with similar preferences in protein sources, to compare the purchase prices of these foods, and to identify ongoing transitions from one protein source to another. Grocery purchase data with individual attributes on 29,437 consenting loyalty card holders were analyzed over 2.3 year period. We designed a sequence analysis to group participants to clusters with similar purchase preferences over the follow-up period and to estimate transition probabilities between preferences. We studied the determinants of prevalent purchase profiles by ordinal logistic models. We identified six participant profiles with similar preferences in four protein sources: red meat, poultry, fish, and plant-based foods. Red meat dominated the purchase preferences and showed the highest persistence over time. The majority (70%) of the participants demonstrated somewhat mixed purchase profiles. A step-by-step transition from red meat towards plant-based food preference seems most likely via poultry and fish. Overall, low income was not a barrier to a more sustainable purchase profile, while price may deter the purchase of fish. The most important resources in choosing more sustainable profiles were education and stage of family life. Societal incentives for sustainable food choices seem most crucial at transition stages of life course and for the less educated. Here, we also demonstrate that grocery purchase data offer a valuable tool for monitoring the progressive transition towards a healthy and sustainable food system.

Examining consumer food waste through grocery retailers' customer data: Segments and practical implications

“…Customer data that are complemented with appropriate information can provide unique empirical access to study many contemporary challenges, such as obesity, malnutrition, or unsustainable diets. Furthermore, using customer data for research purposes can uncover new opportunities––for example, studying health (e.g., Aiello et al, 2019; Nevalainen et al, 2018), alcohol consumption (Lintonen et al, 2020), sustainable food purchasing (Erkkola et al, 2022; Meinilä et al, 2022), and nicotine replacements (Timberlake et al, 2019)––and thus, direct attention towards using customer data to benefit individuals and society at large (Hermann, 2022; Saarijärvi et al, 2019). While there seems to be increasing interest in examining tensions revolving around collecting, analysing, and leveraging customer data in retailing (see Krafft et al, 2021; Martin & Palmatier, 2020; Wieringa et al, 2021), harnessing data's potential to benefit society through scientific research can increase customers' willingness to continue to share their data.…”

Building nutritionally meaningful product groups for loyalty card data: the LoCard Food Classification process

“…For example, they provide a novel method to measure food purchase patterns and monitor the nutrition composition of food purchases over time as it reasonably well re ects the self-reported food and drink consumption of the adult population (2,3) . Further, customer loyalty card data could potentially be studied against health outcomes at the population level (4) as well as for monitoring and evaluating dietary environmental and economic sustainability (5,6) . Importantly, while grocery purchase data are about what, when, where and at what price food has been bought, customer loyalty card data also contain data on who made the purchase.…”

Supporting science-based decision-making for a sustainable future

“…The 2022 SDG report highlighted three urgent priorities as 'a roadmap out of crisis', all of which will require multifaceted efforts based on strong research to address; (1) ending ongoing conflicts to create a stable state for sustainable development, (2) implementing development pathways that combine clean energy transitions with resilient food systems and thriving economies, and (3) transformations of global economies for equitable recovery for all [2].Amid these pressing challenges, PLOS Sustainability and Transformation outlined its mission to support decision making for a more sustainable future by publishing catalytic research from a diversity of researchers and policy experts across disciplines, sectors, and geographies [3]. Publishing original research from corresponding authors in 27 countries across our full scope, ranging from changing perceptions of sustainable choices in consumer behavior [4,5] to recommendations for more resilient agricultural practices [6][7][8], emerging threats to ecosystem services [9,10] and challenges in incorporating transformative innovation into policy practices [11]. We're incredibly grateful to include so many brilliant minds in support of such a pressing mission.…”

“…Amid these pressing challenges, PLOS Sustainability and Transformation outlined its mission to support decision making for a more sustainable future by publishing catalytic research from a diversity of researchers and policy experts across disciplines, sectors, and geographies [3]. Publishing original research from corresponding authors in 27 countries across our full scope, ranging from changing perceptions of sustainable choices in consumer behavior [4,5] to recommendations for more resilient agricultural practices [6][7][8], emerging threats to ecosystem services [9,10] and challenges in incorporating transformative innovation into policy practices [11]. We're incredibly grateful to include so many brilliant minds in support of such a pressing mission.…”