Cypriots more willing to buy ‘ugly’ produce now, survey finds

Three out of five Cypriots would be willing to pay less for fresh but ugly produce, an online survey on food waste showed on Monday.

The public this year appears more willing to adopt habits that help reduce food waste compared with 2021 according to the ninth online survey of LIFE- FOODPRINT project on food waste and consumption trends among Cypriots.

The poll, a press release said, was conducted online via the Jupiter Group websites during the period of 15-18 July 2022. The sample ranged from 1,388 to 2,437 people depending on the question. A proportion of participants reported that they do not live in Cyprus.

It included four questions that were repeated from the fourth online poll conducted in August 2021, as to measure potential changes in public opinion over time.

“The key question in the poll is whether the public is willing to try or adopt specific actions to reduce food waste,” it said, noting that food waste is one of the biggest problems when it comes to sustainable consumption and waste management.

Overall, a clear improvement was evident in the trends from 2021 to 2022.

The results showed a clear positive trend since a large percentage, 64.6 per cent, are very or considerably willing to buy fresh vegetables and fruits with unsatisfactory appearance at lower prices. This is a significant increase compared with the previous year when 47.2 per cent responded the same.

There was also a significant decrease in the percentage of participants who are not at all or not so willing to buy strange looking fruits and vegetables at discounted prices from 40.6 per cent in 2021 to 25.4 per cent in 2022.

Furthermore, more than half of the participants, 52.1 per cent, are very or significantly willing to buy good quality but not perfectly fresh vegetables and fruits at significantly reduced prices, compared with 33.6 per cent in 2021.

The results of the third question, “show that many people are very or fairly willing to participate in food donation platforms, i.e. 66.7 per cent,” it said. In 2021 it was 63 per cent.

Although a virtually unknown practice for Cypriot consumers, unlike in other EU countries, it appears that a significant proportion of the public, 43.6 per cent, are interested in buying packages with all the essentials to prepare a meal. In 2021, the percentage of participants who were very or significantly interested in buying such a product was 41.3 per cent.

According to the project’s website, Cyprus has one of the EU’s highest levels of municipal waste production per capita with each person throwing away 636 kilos of food per year. To access the poll results: https://mailchi.mp/opinionaction.com/food-print-940389?e=433b1fb65a