COPENHAGEN, DENMARK-- December 12, 2022 -- Sustainability and health play a continuously important role when doing business abroad. According to a new analysis, 86% of the surveyed international B2B decision-makers in the agriculture and food sector find that health will become more important for their company in the coming years and that their customers are increasingly demanding healthy products and solutions.
In the newly released report from Food Nation, 803 international B2B decision-makers from Japan, South Korea, UK and Vietnam have given their views on Danish agricultural and food production. The analysis shows, that the decision-makers associate Denmark with many positive attributes such as quality, sustainability, organic, food safety and reliability.
Sustainability as the biggest health challenge
The decision-makers see sustainability as the biggest health challenge related to the agriculture and food sector in their home countries, followed by climate change and food security. Sustainability and health are closely related, according to 82% of decision-makers, who primarily associate health with food safety, organic and sustainability.
Despite differences in the markets, 3 out of 4 decision-makers agree that official dietary guidelines are an important tool for national health. At the same time, across all four markets, governments, politicians and food authorities are seen to have by far the biggest responsibility for driving development within healthy agricultural and food products.
“With population growth expected to reach 10 billion people in 2050, who must all have access to safe, sustainable and healthy food, Denmark can support the necessary development of global health and sustainability with products and solutions”, says Lise Walbom, CEO, Food Nation.
Initiatives to improve global health
When respondents are asked which initiatives have the greatest effect in terms of ensuring health across the value chain, organic (40%) and food safety (38%) are mentioned as top priorities. Another noteworthy finding about health perceptions relates to COVID-19, which most decision-makers say no longer is a major concern. 74% agree the pandemic has contributed to a growing interest in healthy food among customers. In other words, health has gained traction over the past two years.