According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, German consumers are paying more attention to animal welfare, regional windows and the EU organic seal when it comes to food than in previous years. The desire for more transparency must be taken into account, said Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) at the presentation of the Nutrition Report 2024 in Berlin.
“Our citizens decide how they eat, without instructions or regulations from anyone. It sounds reasonable, but unfortunately in recent years we have seen food being exploited more and more for political purposes,” Özdemir said. People want “real freedom of choice, that’s what we support – based on valid data.”
For the nutrition report “Germany, the way it eats”, the opinion research institute Forsa surveyed around 1,000 people in Germany aged 14 and over in May 2024. This is the ninth annual survey.
According to the ministry, almost twice as many people pay attention to animal welfare labels when shopping compared to 2015: their number increased from 36 percent to 65 percent. The share of EU organic seals increased from 47 to 59 percent in the same period. At 39 percent, significantly more people are buying vegetarian or vegan products instead of animal products more often. In 2020, this figure was 29 percent.