Leveraging food sourcing integrity through labeling and consumer awareness

By Kristie Hung

Label-reading consumers have two major questions: “What’s in it?” and “Where’s it from?” Answering each of those quickly and transparently, and in a way that calls out natural ingredients, will lead to rising consumer trust as well as brand loyalty.

A food or beverage’s provenance, or origin – organic garlic from California, for example – is of unprecedented interest to consumers. Put simply, they feel best about a visible farm-to-table path and feel that the food-manufacturing sector is sometimes opaque about stops in that journey. Two out of three purchasers hold a positive impression of the agriculture sector, according to research gathered by Sensient Natural Ingredients, while fewer than half feel that way about the food-manufacturing sector.

The ability to offer transparent and traceable sourcing is key to a supplier’s ability to provide manufacturers with the clean-labeling data consumers demand. When such labeling is utilized, consumer trust and demand rise exponentially:

  • 83% of consumers value having more access to in-depth product information
  • 53% of consumers will switch brands in order to have that information

Knowing ingredients’ source has become a key success metric for food and beverage manufacturers. Consumers demand food integrity, and manufacturers are following suit. Sensient Natural Ingredients has long made its planting, growing, harvesting and processing capabilities for all Sensient Flavors, ingredients open to clients, and will continue to do so.