Consumer reaction to the sunflower oil shortage

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

In late May 2022, the market research team at MRQual conducted an in-depth study, using our virtual moderation methodology, with 60 shoppers.

This number is equivalent to more than 6 focus groups, with participants recruited from around the UK, and selected to be nationally representative. It included some shoppers who said they were highly concerned about the environment, some who were quite concerned, and some who were less concerned.

Our research suggested that in the purchase decision-making process for products such as crisps, pizzas, snack bars and frozen chips there was very little interest in the types of oil used in the production process.

We asked our shoppers to tell us what factors were important to them when choosing what products such as these to buy. They mentioned such elements as the flavour, taste, price, calories and brand. A small number mentioned ingredients, but none mentioned the type of oil in the product.