Taste more important than food origin for Maltese, survey finds

A Eurobarometer survey has found that Maltese are the most likely in Europe to identify nutrient content as an important factor

The Maltese like their food to be tasty, nutritious, safe and unprocessed, but are not so worried on where it comes from and what environmental and social impact it has.

A Eurobarometer survey carried out in September shows that when buying their food, the Maltese are among the least in Europe to care about its geographical origin and its environmental impact than most other Europeans.

But the Maltese are more likely to attribute importance to taste and are the most likely in Europe to consider nutrient content as an important factor when buying their food.

Geographical origin is only an important factor for 15% of Maltese consumers when choosing which food to buy compared to 34% of all EU respondents.

The most likely in Europe to give importance to geographical origin are the French (45%), the Swedes (44%) the Germans (43%), the Finns (41%) and the Italians (40%).

Moreover only 7% of Maltese consider the impact on the environment and climate as an important factor when choosing what food to buy, compared to 15% of all EU respondents.

In contrast 27% of Swedes and 23% of Germans and Danes, consider the impact on the environment as an important factor when buying food. But the least to care about environmental impact of food choices were the Lithuanians, among which 3% only consider this as an important impact.

The Maltese are also among the least in Europe to give importance to ethical consideration related to animal welfare, religion and fair trade.

Only 5% of Maltese mentioned this as an important factor compared to 31% of Germans, 30% of Danes and Austrians and 24% of Swedish respondents.

But the Maltese are among the most likely to give importance to taste (55%). Only the Portuguese (59%) and the Czechs (58%) give more importance to taste than the Maltese.

Along with the Dutch, the Maltese are also the most likely in Europe to give importance to having their food minimally processed. 32% of Maltese consider this to be an important consideration in contrast to just 6% of Portuguese respondents.

The survey shows that the Maltese are the most likely in Europe to identify nutrient content as an important factor (48%). In contrast the least to care about nutrient content are the French (23%).

Food safety is also a very important factor for the Maltese, 41% of which consider this as an important consideration. The Italians (58%) are the most likely to consider this as an important factor.

Surprisingly only 38% of Maltese consider cost as an important factor in choosing food, less than 40% among all EU respondents. The most likely to worry about cost are the Portuguese (70%) and Lithuanians (61%).