Filipinos prefer healthy grocery items – report

The majority of Filipino shoppers prefer purchasing healthy grocery items due to prioritizing their families’ health and personal peace of mind, Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company, reported Thursday, Dec. 7.

“Nearly all Filipinos believe in the importance of focusing on one’s health and appreciate the value in choosing healthy grocery items for themselves and their families,” Kantar Philippines Worldpanel Division Managing Director Marie-Anne Lezoraine said during the virtual briefing for the results of the report last Thursday.

However, Lezoraine highlighted that the motivations and influencing factors of consumers’ shopping habits vary based on their location, “as the availability of these products becomes a challenge.”

Kantar’s “Wealth in Health” study revealed that nearly all or 99 percent of Filipinos consider remaining healthy as important, with 97 percent of respondents recognizing the value of buying healthy grocery items for their homes.

Data gathered by Kantar from almost 1,200 respondents from February to April 2023, also showed that 91 percent of them said that keeping their family healthy is the reason why they choose to purchase healthy grocery items, while 90 percent of them said that it is for their personal peace of mind.

In addition, only 72 percent of shoppers are actually buying healthy grocery items consistently, with residents of the National Capital Region (NCR) purchasing healthy food options more frequently at 84 percent, compared to those located in Mindanao at 55 percent, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the socioeconomic stature of Filipinos does not seem to make a big impact on their consistency in purchasing healthy grocery items with 77 percent of the upper class (ABC) buying often, followed closely by class D at 70 percent, and class E at 75 percent.

This pilot study provides valuable insights on what brands must do in order to leverage the desire of nearly all Filipinos to choose healthy grocery items, according to Kantar.

When it comes to their definition of healthy grocery items, one of the top five product characteristics Filipino shoppers look for from brands is healthy ingredients, the report indicated.

Availability in most stores is also one of the key considerations in being able to consistently choose healthy grocery items as part of their shopping basket.

“Filipino shoppers have expressed their desire to choose healthy and to buy healthy. Knowing why health is important and how shoppers define healthy grocery items will help brands develop or expand product lines to cater to these motivations and shopping practices, especially with the coming New Year when Filipinos plan their resolutions to live a healthier lifestyle,” Lezoraine added.