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commitment
HealtH Star rating:
an executive summary of our consumer research
December 2014
contentS
Lion to aDopt the new heaLth Star rating 4
why StarS anD energy? 5
conSumer reSearch methoDoLogy 5
Key reSearch obServationS anD finDingS 6
— The currenT role of nuTriTion informaTion on pack 6
— reacTions To The healTh sTar raTing 11
— preferred healTh sTar raTing device 14
what eLSe wiLL Lion be Doing? 15
— 3 —
to adopt tHe new HealtH Star rating
what consumers will see on Lion products:
Star icon: assesses nutrient density of a product, with a rating from 0.5 — 5 stars (best).
100g/mL: allows product comparisons.
Qualifier: encourages consumer to read the information back of pack.
per serve/pack: provides information on actual consumption, in consumer friendly terms, e.g. tub, cup, glass. This is complemented by percentage daily intake (%DI) for the remaining nutrients listed in the nutrition information panel.
Lion is proud to be adopting the health Star rating system across our portfolio, along with additional information on energy, over the next four years — starting with our largest categories, milk and juice.
This will be supported by education information to help consumers make better and more informed product choices.
Based on our consumer research, and as part of our commitment to providing consumers with simple, clear and transparent product information, we will adopt the Health Star Rating, along with additional information on energy — including energy per 100g/mL, energy per serve/pack, and energy as a percentage of an adult’s (average) daily intake.
We believe this retains and builds on the cut-through achieved by the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Daily Intake Guide over the past several years, as well as delivering more at-a-glance information for interested consumers.
Within two years we will have the Health Star Rating system on a significant proportion of our portfolio, with 100% adoption by 2018.
Adopting best practice front of pack labelling is part of our Goodness Project commitments to help bring more natural goodness to every Australian and we are pleased to be able to help deliver this consumer education tool to the community. We hope this move will help encourage more Australians to enjoy the goodness of dairy and juice as part of a balanced diet, and increase their nutritional literacy and ability to make healthier choices.
Our labelling changes will be supplemented by other on and off-pack education initiatives to help consumers make more informed product choices.
To learn more about the broader Goodness Project commitments, visit the Lion website: www.lionco.com
For more information on the Health Star Rating visit the government website: www.healthstarrating.gov.au
— 4 —
why StarS anD energy?
Lion’s research confirmed consumers are seeking more information about which products to choose and why.
With a growing interest in health, people are looking for more nutrition information — especially when buying new products. The new Health Star Rating, with additional information on energy, will provide consumers with a simple, at-a-glance reference front of pack.
This is designed to help guide informed choices, and be supported by further product information on the back of pack.
conSumer reSearch methoDoLogy
Lion commissioned two external agencies, Reality Check and Nature, to work in partnership to undertake focused consumer research. A mixed method approach, comprising both qualitative and quantitative components, was employed to obtain statistical as well as contextual findings. All fieldwork was conducted from 2 July 2014 to 16 July 2014.
The qualitative component involved ten 30-minute group discussions with 4-6 participants in each — totalling 58 participants and spanning a broad range of demographics. These discussions were conducted in participant homes in both inner and outer metro regions of Sydney and Melbourne. The quantitative component involved a nationally representative sample (by gender, age and location) of 1000 respondents aged 18-70 years, completing a 5-minute online survey. All participants were randomLy invited from an online research panel.
in both components, the following three key topics were explored:
1. The current role of nutrition information on pack
2. Reactions to Health Star Rating and likely implications on behaviour
3. The Preferred Health Star Rating device
— 5 —
the current roLe of nutrition information on pacK
consumers tend to check nutrition information on pack when buying new products, however this is less common when purchasing staple items
Checking nutrition information is common practice when buying new products, noting that yoghurt and juice are more scrutinised in this regard (see Chart I). It is, however, much less common when it comes to re-purchasing products, especially for white milk (Chart II), suggesting people tend to ‘set and forget’ once a product has been adopted into their repertoire.
reSearcH obServationS and findingS
Question: When you’re buying the products above, how often do you look at the nutrition information on the packaging?
base: Have purchased category in past 6 months n=348 to 940
chart i:
frequency of checking nutrition information on pack — when buying a new product
NeveR RAReLy OCCASIONALLy MOST OF THe TIMe ALL THe TIMe
yoghurt
Juice/juice drinks
flavoured milk
iced coffee
everyday cheese
white milk
Speciality cheese
15%
18%
24%
24%
37%
24%
33%
14%
14%
21%
17%
20%
17%
21%
24%
24%
18%
19%
14%
19%
14%
20%27%
29%
25%
27%
17%
28%
23%
15%
11%
13%
12%
12%
10%
— 6 —
Although it varies from person to person, there are signs the underlying health trends are driving more frequent checking of nutrition information on pack. Consumers are becoming more educated and are setting their own benchmarks for everyday products.
conSumer Sentiment:
“there’s a time factor, a convenience factor and a reliability factor, the ones that you have always bought, it’s your go to product and you just trust them.”
“we started using them (nip panels) when we started looking at our sugar intake, just to get an idea, and you get a base line. i know what bread and milk are now, the basics.”
“to be honest i never look at them but, my partner looks at everything, very health conscious. i am the opposite.”
Question: When you’re buying the products above, how often do you look at the nutrition information on the packaging?
base: Have purchased in past 6 months n=349 to 945
chart ii:
frequency of checking nutrition information on pack — when buying a product you’ve bought before
NeveR RAReLy OCCASIONALLy MOST OF THe TIMe ALL THe TIMe
iced coffee
Juice/juice drinks
yoghurt
flavoured milk
white milk
everyday cheese
Speciality cheese
37%
36%
52%
36%
43%
40%
48%
19%
25%
21%
26%
26%
22%
22%
13%
12%
8%
11%
8%
11%
8%
5%25%
23%
13%
23%
20%
24%
18%
5%
5%
4%
4%
3%
3%
— 7 —
tabLe i:
top 3 nutrition information people pay attention to by category
conSumer Sentiment:
“i looked at yoghurt and it was the sugar element.”
“i like to see how much sugar is in things.”
“i look at the added sugar and the sugar that’s already there.”
“i look at the sugar and fat and compare a few items.”
conSumer Sentiment:
“i find it confusing because i work in calories and they put kilojoules.”
“i know i am meant to have 2300 calories a day, so how many kilojoules is that?”
“Don’t get that. what’s energy?”
energy (calories/kilojoules) ranks 3rd or 4th depending on the category in question but are not universally understood. Those unfamiliar with kilojoules are not clear how they relate to calories or energy.
Sugar anD fat are of moSt intereSt to conSumerS when examining on pacK information
The sugar and fat content are the most examined information items on pack (see Table I). Consumers are becoming used to quickly checking highly accessible claims such as ‘less sugar’, ‘less fat’ and ‘light’ which are usually located front of pack or in bold text.
Question: And when you’re buying the products above and you do look at the nutrition information, which things do you pay the most attention to?
base: Have purchased in past 6 months and at least sometimes look at nutrition information
order yoghurt flavoured milk
Juice/juice drinks
iced coffee everyday cheese
Speciality cheese
white milk
1 Sugars Sugars Sugars Sugars fats fats fats
2 fats fats ingredient list
fats Sodium ingredient list
Sugars
3 energy (cal/kJ)
energy (cal/kJ)
energy (cal/kJ)
energy (cal/kJ)
energy (cal/kJ)
energy (cal/kJ)
calcium
— 8 —
conSumerS wouLD LiKe more context arounD what ‘per Serve’ meanS for them
People are currently less used to ‘per 100mL’, ‘per 250mL’ or ‘per serve’ assessments. There was mixed response to the ‘per serve’ claim without meaningful quantification of what constitutes a ‘serve’. Some believe it to be an easy reckoner if based on ‘average daily serve amounts’ yet some felt that serve sizes can differ by person and current suggestions on pack are perceived to be too small.
There was desire, however, for ‘per serve’ to state the ‘average serve’ size based on weight or volume for recommended healthy consumption and to be illustrated using alternatives like ‘cup’, spoonful or handful (refer to Table II for consumer suggestions).
conSumer Sentiment:
“it’s (per mL) difficult sometimes, it depends on the size of the product.”
“it can get tricky sometimes with the per serve, because you read that, but then there will be three serves in the packet.”
“i hate per serve because the serve sizes are all over the place.”
“Serve sizes are never big enough.”
“each different label will have a different serving size, and will choose it based on the daily intake to make it look better for you.”
— 9 —
Both ‘energy per 100g/mL’ and percentage daily intake (%DI) featured lower on the list.
While ‘energy per 100g/mL’ is helpful to compare between products within a category, percentage daily intake (%DI) seems to carry significant weight with consumers. Translation to an ‘average’ person’s daily needs addresses poor understanding of kilojoules, particularly amongst those that are more health conscious.
education, however, will be required for those uncertain on how an ‘average’ person’s daily intake relates to exercise and energy outputs.
conSumer Sentiment:
“Daily intake is less thinking for me. it’s efficient; i don’t have to do the workings out.”
“it needs an extra column of what you’re consuming, daily intake percentages, what you are consuming in this container.”
“... it would be good to have, say, put in your height and weight and have recommended kilojoule intake per day so match that up in percentage terms what that works out to be your total intake per day.”
“per serve, say 10% of the product that would be, say 100g and that can be worked out with the dietary intake per day. So, if you have 50g of cheese, it might be your dietary intake is whatever they are recommending.”
“i feel like the percentage is a bit more relatable, the percentage of daily intake — you can understand it.”
Source: Qualitative component
tabLe ii:
consumer suggestions on meaningful serve sizes
product volume measurement consumer Sentiment
yoghurt 250-300g or 100g Single tub (small) or 3-4 spoonfuls (if adding to a dish, e.g. cereal)
“i eat a tub of yoghurt, one of those small tubs, that is 300g”
“it depends how you use it, on cereal i go by spoonfuls, it’s very individual, 3 or 4 spoonfuls”
“children have their own sizes. they’re only little”
Juice 250mL or 400mL glass/cup “Juice should be a smaller serve size”
milk 250mL or 400mL glass/cup “Larger cup, 400mL”
“the serves are usually quite small, it’s usually 250mL, and typically you might drink 350 — 400mL”
cheese 25g, 50g 2 slices for 1 person
2 slices 1 handful 1 cupful
“grated cheese, a handful”
“a cup”
“50g?”
— 10 —
conSumer Sentiment:
“the more stars, the less fat, less sugar, overall better for you for you healthy living.”
“1 star, not very good for you, 5 stars is good for you, that is a pretty easy reference.”
“i often can’t figure out what i’m consuming, so to have it would be much easier.”
reactionS to the heaLth Star rating
the health Star rating was broadly welcomed and understood as ‘5’ is better, ‘1’ is worse.
Despite some confusion around aspects of the nutrition information panel, the Health Star Rating is very familiar to people through the use of a similar system in other categories (e.g. water and electrical energy). The front- of-pack Health Star Rating device can act as a simple, at-a-glance reference to help guide healthier choices and has a high likelihood of being taken up by consumers (see Chart III).
— 11 —
Participants were quick to compare products across categories (especially in drinks), raising some questions on how to use the Health Star Rating and how it is calculated. Questions were also raised in instances where the Health Star Rating seemed to contradict popular belief which could encourage examination and re-examination of products.
Source: Qualitative & Quantitative component (through open-ended questioning)
conSumer Sentiment:
“i don’t fully understand the health Star ratings, but there seemed to be a lot of inconsistencies with my perception of some yoghurts.”
“Daily Juice was a more healthy choice than i first thought.”
“i know that some yoghurt is not as good for you as you may assume, it is good to have the star rating system.”
“i don’t understand how my greek yoghurt has one star? it must be based on fat because it’s got no sugars in it and my understanding is that it’s healthy, so i disagree with the stars.”
“if i was surprised by the rating i’d look at the nutrition information more closely. greek yoghurt is supposed to have lowest carb and no sugar.”
chart iii:
chart iii. the likelihood of reading the health Star rating information on pack
Question: Firstly, if this information was included on food and drink packaging, how likely do you think you would be to read it when choosing which products to buy?
base: Total sample n=1037
veRy LIKeLy
LIKeLy
UNLIKeLy
veRy UNLIKeLy
26%
15%
10%
49%
conSumer Sentiment:
“it (Star ratings) might put you off some things, but with things you know aren’t great, it wouldn’t affect me as much.”
“personally i drink it because i want it, disregarding health reasons.”
the health Star rating draws people towards products in general. there are claimed changes in purchasing decisions on the basis of the health Star rating, expected to be most prevalent in lower rated products, especially:
— if consumption is more frequent
— if ranged side-by-side at point of purchase with alternative competitor choices with a higher rating
— where no discernible taste difference or preference exists.
Brands or categories perceived to be a more occasional ‘treat’ are likely to warrant less attention in the short term. However, increased repeat exposure to higher rated alternatives may prompt trial or switching over time.
conSumer Sentiment:
“2.5 sounds about right. you know if you’re going to drink flavoured milk it’s not going to be the best thing for you. but, it tastes good.”
“greek yoghurt is that low? Shame — but, i love it so much (the taste), i’d still eat it regularly.”
Consumers may correlate the Health Star Rating with taste, price and quality. A high rating can imply a healthy, quality product, whilst a low rating may cue a better tasting product.
— 13 —
conSumer Sentiment:
“it contains the most information about the product.”
“it gives all the information at a glance.”
“contains the most information.”
“has both the energy levels per 100mL and 250mL.”
“because it shows how many kJ per 100mL and per 250mL serve. comparison can be calculated with this info.”
“it’s good that it has the daily intake percentage, if you have that and the per serve, then i think it works best.”
preferreD heaLth Star rating Device
There is a clear preference for the more detailed Health Star Rating (Chart Iv), with over 50% of participants selecting the Health Star Rating, energy per 100g/mL and energy per serve. younger consumers lean towards the percentage daily intake (%DI) option as a second preference, while older consumers lean towards the energy/mL. This was further validated by the consumer qualitative research.
chart iv:
chart iv: rank your preference on the health Star rating options
Question: Please rank these labels from the one you’d most like to see on packs (1) to the one you’d least like to see on packs (3).
base: Total sample n=1037
FIRST SeCOND THIRD
32%
51%
17%
34%
22%
44%
34%
27%
39%
PER 100g
0000kJ
PER SERVE
0000kJ
PER 100g
0000kJ 0 % DI*
PER SERVE
0000kJ 0 % DI*
— 14 —
what eLSe wiLL Lion be Doing?
We will make it even easier for consumers to understand what’s in our products and how to use them, by enhancing the nutrition and product information, both on and off the pack — over the next five years.
This includes increasing accessibility to product information, such as at the point of sale, when out and about, and at home. This will be underpinned by consumer research, aiming to address their current and future needs.
for any additional information or queries you may have, please email: [email protected]
— 15 —
