Final Report Understanding consumer use of the freezer A quantitative study into consumer attitudes, understanding and behaviour with regards to home-freezing food, store-bought frozen food and use of the freezer in general. Project code: RBC522-001 Research date: September 2009 January 2010 Date: August 2010
WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change. Document reference: [RBC522-001] Research undertaken by: Jane Maxey - RED Scientific, Jim Oliver - Proteus Research Ltd Front cover photography: Frozen food category aisle shot, WRAP WRAP and RED Scientific believe the content of this report to be correct as at the date of writing. However, factors such as prices, levels of recycled content and regulatory requirements are subject to change and users of the report should check with their suppliers to confirm the current situation. In addition, care should be taken in using any of the cost information provided as it is based upon numerous project-specific assumptions (such as scale, location, tender context, etc.). The report does not claim to be exhaustive, nor does it claim to cover all relevant products and specifications available on the market. While steps have been taken to ensure accuracy, WRAP cannot accept responsibility or be held liable to any person for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. It is the responsibility of the potential user of a material or product to consult with the supplier or manufacturer and ascertain whether a particular product will satisfy their specific requirements. The listing or featuring of a particular product or company does not constitute an endorsement by WRAP and WRAP cannot guarantee the performance of individual products or materials. This material is copyrighted. It may be reproduced free of charge subject to the material being accurate and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. This material must not be used to endorse or used to suggest WRAP s endorsement of a commercial product or service. For more detail, please refer to WRAP s Terms & Conditions on its web site: www.wrap.org.uk
Executive summary The freezer is promoted by the Love Food Hate Waste campaign as part of the suite of solutions to help consumers prevent food waste in the home. This quantitative research into consumer attitudes, understanding and behaviour with regards to home-freezing food, store-bought frozen food and use of the freezer in general has been undertaken to inform the campaign and provide evidence for food industry initiatives to help consumers get more out of their freezers. Through previous WRAP qualitative research, the freezer has been shown as not only a useful aid to help prevent food waste but also a long term storage solution leading to food being forgotten about and potentially thrown away as a result. A three step approach was taken within this study: an omnibus survey to gain preliminary insights into behaviours around freezing food, a bespoke quantitative survey to identify consumer behaviour around freezing and use of the freezer and, for those participating in the quantitative survey, a freezer contents review. Although it is not possible to quantify the potential food waste saving from optimal freezer usage, given the strong interaction between other key food waste behaviours such as planning, portioning and storage, the freezer can act as a pause button, giving consumers more time to eat the food they buy, rather than having it spoil or pass its use by date. The freezer can also enable consumers to take up multi-buys and purchase fresh, short shelf life foods to freeze to eat at another time. It is therefore a key tool to help reduce the 5.3 million tonnes of avoidable household food and drink waste thrown away each year, in particular the 2.9 million tonnes of food and drink that is thrown away completely untouched, or opened/started but not finished; especially bakery, fresh meat and fish (to a lesser extent perhaps) fresh produce and dairy, but also food that has been cooked but not eaten, such as homemade meals. The key consumer insights generated through this study include: People are using their freezers quite frequently; two thirds of respondents are using their freezer daily or most days. Food is expected to last in the freezer for a relatively long time (e.g. 120 days on average for store-bought frozen vegetables and 70 days for fresh meat and fish products frozen at home), but many wouldn't eat food beyond the date on the pack because of food safety concerns (which are unfounded). Most (69%) people have at least a quarter of their freezers empty. 59% believe food should be frozen on the day of purchase, driven by beliefs around food safety (50%), quality (33%) and on-pack guidance (19%). A third of people wouldn't freeze an unopened pack that they had kept in the fridge for "a few days", primarily over food safety concerns. 60% wouldn't freeze an opened pack of food that had been in the fridge for "a few days", again primarily due to safety concerns. Most of what is in people's freezers is either bought frozen food, or food bought chilled / fresh and then frozen. Freezing of homemade food seems to take place much less frequently. 64% of people rarely cook food with the specific intention of freezing some or all of it. 44% would never freeze excess food that had been cooked but not served. 52% wouldn t freeze cooked turkey or chicken. Recommendations Increase use of the snowflake logo on fresh and refrigerated food and/or provide clear instructions e.g. freezable to highlight what food can be frozen at home (and how they should be defrosted and cooked; this could include the need to transfer the food or drink to a suitable container prior to freezing; or, for example, highlight that, if frozen, texture may change but the food can be used for specific uses for example, frozen cheese for making sauces). Understanding consumer use of the freezer 3
Increase general awareness of what the snowflake logo means and what can be frozen, for example, by point of sale communication. Tips such as grate and freeze on cheese packs could be considered. Move away from freeze on the day of purchase labelling so that on-pack instructions are consistent with FSA guidance and consumers know they can safely freeze unopened and opened packs of food after the purchase date, as long as they ve been stored correctly and are within their use-by or once opened use within x days date. Improve the consistency of instructions about how long food can be kept frozen and, where possible, lengthen this time to give consumers a longer shelf-life. Sell products to help consumers use their freezer more effectively e.g. freezer labels, pens (so consumers can record the product type and date purchased and/or frozen) and suitable storage containers e.g. to freeze milk, cooking sauces and homemade meals. Enhance communication to consumers around the benefits of using their freezers more effectively (e.g. saving money through freezing more home cooked foods, either from batch cooking or of leftovers), and addressing the barriers that may be preventing some consumers from doing this (such as concerns over the safety of storing food in the freezer for long periods of time, uncertainty around what foods can be frozen, and when food should be frozen). This research has, therefore, helped us understand not only how we re using our freezers today, but has given us some very good ideas about how we can make better use of them in the future. Based on the early research findings detailed in this report, the Love Food Hate Waste campaign launched the Great Freezer Expedition in Winter 2009. The Great Freezer Expedition encouraged consumers to explore inside their freezers in the lead up to Christmas, make meals using the food inside them, free up space to fill with festive foods, or homemade dishes for entertaining and famous Christmas leftovers. There was considerable media interest in this story, with more than 40 radio interviews given, and more than 50 pieces appearing in both national and local press. There are also examples of how the food industry is supporting WRAPs objectives in this area, such as: Waitrose producing a free in-store leaflet Frozen Food: Make the Most of Your Freezer. Morrisons Great Taste Less Waste campaign incorporating freezing advice. Sainsbury s labelling products such as a divisible two-pack of chilled garlic ciabatta with one ciabatta ready to eat, one ciabatta ready to freeze. Bird s Eye carrying out research into consumers use of the freezer and frozen food, and PR / advertising aimed at helping to highlight the benefits of better use of the freezer, and addressing food safety concerns. Summary of consumer insights Frozen food purchasing The largest proportion of food purchased by the survey respondents was generally fresh/refrigerated food, with about a quarter of the shopping basket comprising frozen food 1 (Table 2). Ice cream tops the list of most regularly bought frozen food (Figure 8) with about half of shoppers regularly buying ice cream. Chips are the second most often purchased, followed by pizza, mixed vegetables and peas. One in three respondents (38%) said they were often or always enticed by special offers on frozen food. Half of respondents stated that they rarely or never read the date label on frozen foods though a third said they always or often do this. Thirteen per cent said they would check date labels more (generally) as a result of responding to the survey. The main reason for buying frozen food is that it keeps for a long time. The second priority is as an emergency measure, with one in three (34%) saying that it s good to have in case fresh food runs out. 1 The Family Food and Expenditure Survey, 2008, estimates that around 60bn is spent on food each year. Using data from Kantar Worldpanel, the British Frozen Food Federation puts the expenditure on frozen food at around 5bn (http://www.bfff.co.uk/about-us/statistics/retail). This may well be a result of the relatively large volume of many frozen foods, and differences in cost \ kg. Understanding consumer use of the freezer 4
Freezing fresh or refrigerated food at home Ninety-two per cent of respondents said they regularly freeze fresh or refrigerated food at home. Of those, one in four will freeze food bought on special offer/promotion. The most frequently frozen items according to the households who freeze foods at home are: fresh meat (lamb, beef) by 51% of households; fish and seafood by 37%; breads by 35%; and chicken by 30%. About half of respondents said they read the labelling on fresh/refrigerated foods to determine what can/can t be frozen and one in 20 look for the snowflake logo. However, when the whole survey population were shown the snowflake logo only half (54%) recognised it as meaning the item is suitable for freezing (Figure 18). When asked when they would freeze fresh/refrigerated food, the top two answers were on the day of purchase (59%) and as soon as possible after they re bought (25%). Respondents stated that the primary reason for their answer was to ensure food safety (50% of the sample). This is interesting, given FSA guidance (Section 1.3) is that food can be frozen up to the use by date. Cost and convenience are the major reasons given for freezing fresh or refrigerated foods (Figure 16). The single most often given reason for freezing is it s a convenient way of having fresh food ready to eat. When asked directly if they would freeze unopened packs of food if they d been in the fridge a few days, two out of three households would (65%), but one in three would not. When asked why, 64% stated it was because of concerns about food safety, 31% because of food quality. When asked about packs of food part-consumed and open for a couple of days (and stored in the fridge), only four in ten households would freeze the rest of the pack; the majority would discard the rest of the pack on the grounds of food safety. Ninety per cent did not write additional labels on pre-packed food they freeze at home. The main reasons labelling is not done more is that they claim to know the contents of their freezers and can identify items. Foods considered un-freezable are: eggs by 20% of households; milk by 17%; cheese by 16%; and fruit by 16%. This is not surprising perhaps, given that in the Retailer Survey (Section 1.4) only 24% of milk packs had any freezing instructions, and no packs of cheese or eggs had any freezing instructions (apart from a small proportion that stated do not freeze ). Just thirty-six per cent of households would specifically cook food with the intention of freezing all or part of it. Of those that do, the most popular way of keeping homemade food is in an airtight container (68%) followed by freezer bags (40%), re-using old packaging (28%) and normal plastic bags (18%). The top foods most often cooked with the intention of freezing them are: soup by 53% of respondents who cook to freeze; curry by 45%; casserole by 25%; and bolognese sauce by 19%. Half of households (52%) would not freeze cooked turkey or chicken (Figure 24). The following percentages said they rarely or never did the following: freeze food that was cooked but not served (44%) or freeze food that was cooked and served onto the plate, but not eaten (83%). Understanding consumer use of the freezer 5
How long to keep food frozen Frozen vegetables are kept the longest time at an average of 4 months (122 days), whereas frozen ready meals have the shortest at less than 3 months (78 days). About half the sample stated that they got their information about how long to keep their frozen foods for, by reading pack instructions (Figure 14). With the exception of frozen meat joints, the main reason frozen food wouldn t be eaten after the length of time they thought it could be kept for, is for quality reasons, followed by concerns about food safety. Home-frozen foods (both store-bought and homemade) are kept for a shorter time than store-bought frozen food. Treatment of vegetables highlights the difference; bought-frozen vegetables spend the longest time in the freezer (four months on average) compared to home-frozen (a significantly lower two months). Homemade frozen food spends the shortest amount of time in the freezer, at just over one month (Figure 25). Concerns about food safety and quality are the major reasons people won t keep home-frozen food for longer (Tables 4, 7). Interactive freezer use A third of respondents said they used their freezers more than once a day and a third said they used it most days; so interaction with the freezer is high for the majority of respondents. Although a high percentage (74%) agreed with the statement that their freezer is a long term storage solution others agreed with the statements that it s used to stock up on special foods (51%) and it s for daily use (51%). As a reflection of this, eight in ten respondents were fairly confident of their freezer contents (Figure 29) and claimed that finding unidentifiable frozen food in their freezer was rare (72% said they rarely or never find food they can t identify) (Figure 30). During the freezer review, a third of respondents were re-acquainted with food they d forgotten about but only 45 householders (8%) found food they could not identify at all, a total of 90 items out of the 7,834 individually recorded frozen items (or 1%) 2. So, claimed behaviour seems to be accurate; although the problem of remembering what s in their freezer and identifying the things they find exists, it does so on a small scale. Respondents claimed wastage of frozen food was minimal; 73% claimed they rarely or never regularly discard frozen food (Figure 32). During the freezer review, however, 23% of respondents noted on their form that they discarded some of the food from their freezers. Of those that did admit to throwing food away from their freezer, the top three reasons were: gone off (35%), past its food date (31%), or that the respondent didn t like / fancy the look of it (22%). Least often cited reasons were freezer burn (14%), to make room for other food (10%) and unsure of what it is (8%). During the freezer review, 7,834 different items 3 were found and recorded in the 600 participants freezers. The self-audited freezer contents review provides an extrapolated value of UK freezer contents at 860 million 4. The overall average of the actual freezer contents is calculated as 34 per household (Figure 34). The top five items found during the review were (Table 8): ice-cream (74%); chicken (misc) (44%); peas (42%); chips (42%); and fruit/vegetables (misc) (36%). 2 Given the sample sizes for the sub-category questions, it has not been possible to comment on whether the food found that participants couldn t identify was more likely to be home-made or decanted from the original packaging, though you would assume that it is usually the case. 3 Food items refer to each individual pack/product found i.e. 1 food item = 1 pack of sausages, 1 pint milk, ½ pack fish fingers etc 4 The price of every single food item was recorded (where marked, or calculated from retailer websites. Homemade meals were costed based on ingredient costs from an average recipe) so we know the total value of the contents. This was then multiplied by the total number of UK households as the sample was representative of household type and appliance ownership. Understanding consumer use of the freezer 6
Over half the items in UK freezers were bought frozen. Only one in ten items were homemade with the remainder being fresh and refrigerated food frozen at home (Table 9). Most food items in the freezer were still in packaging of some sort; either open or unopened (Table 10). As a result of the review, one in four respondents claimed that they would change their freezer habits; some said they would now check the freezer before shopping (15%), others would check food dates more often (13%) a few said they would be more organised in general (11%) but weren t specific about what being organised actually meant. Only a third said their freezer is very full after their main shop, most said it is quite full (53%) (Figure 26). Single households had the largest unused freezer capacity; only 25% said they re full to capacity after the main shop, compared to 38% for households with children and 32% for couples. At the time of the review, the freezer fullness was recorded by the interviewer (Figure 35). What the interviewers found and what respondents claimed (when asked how full their freezers were after the main shop) is very similar (Figure 26), given the cycle of shopping coinciding with the time of interview. Sixty nine per cent of households had at least 25% of their freezer space unused. Understanding consumer use of the freezer 7
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