Kiwis willing to pay more for a healthy breakfast

PRESS RELEASE: Kiwis willing to pay more for a healthy breakfast

The nutritional value of a breakfast cereal is more important to New Zealanders than what it costs, according to a recent survey.

The Great Kiwi Cereal Survey showed that more than half of Kiwis (56 per cent) rate what’s in their cereal as the most important factor when they are choosing what to buy for breakfast.

Taste is the next most important consideration, with 37 per cent of those surveyed saying this is what influences their cereal choice.

Price was a distant third when it came to cereal consideration, with only seven per cent of respondents saying they make their pick based on the cost of the product.

The survey was carried out by New Zealand muesli manufacturer Te Atatu Toasted. Company founder Clare Robinson is gratified to see Kiwis are becoming more aware of what is in their food and making decisions based on what is good for their health.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and you should be able to recognise all the ingredients in the cereal your family eats.

“We’ve been doing tastings of our products in stores since we launched three years ago and I’ve definitely noticed that people are becoming more ingredient savvy and asking more questions about what we put in our cereals.

“I’ve worked in the food industry for more than 20 years and I’ve seen a move away from making real food to making profitable low-cost, low-nutritional food. But customers are waking up to this and are becoming much less trusting of big food manufacturers, especially with the publicity around products that are pumped full of sugar and highly refined ingredients because it makes them cheaper to produce.”

The survey backed up Clare’s shop-floor experiences, with 70 per cent of respondents saying buying food made in New Zealand was important, compared with 30 per cent who wanted to know their food was produced by a well-known brand they trusted. The statistics were the same when it came to trusting the nutritional information provided by food manufacturers – 70 per cent were more likely to trust the ingredient list provided by a New Zealand-made brand, compared with 30 per cent who trusted information provided by a well-known brand.

Among those surveyed, 60 per cent were confident or very confident they knew how to understand the information on nutritional labels but Clare believes some of us are still making a fundamental mistake when choosing between different products on the shelf.

More than 40 per cent of survey respondents said they looked at the average quantities per serving size when comparing the nutritional information of different cereal. “But the most important information is the average quantities per 100 grams – this gives you a like-for-like comparison with other products as some food manufacturers disguise the amount of less healthy ingredients by having a very small serving size,” Clare says.

Clare launched Te Atatu Toasted because she wants to lead the charge back to making and eating real food and is passionate about giving New Zealanders a “real” breakfast that will fuel their day.

“It’s fantastic to see people realising how important this is and putting their trust in local food manufacturers.”

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More than 300 respondents completed The Great Kiwi Cereal Survey between August 25 and September 2, 2016.

Te Atatu Toasted produces a range of three mueslis, Original Blend, Healthy Blend and Gluten-Free Muesli, and Coco-Crunchies breakfast cereal. All Te Atatu Toasted products are handmade in New Zealand and are available from selected stockists or online at teatatutoasted.co.nz

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