Consumer & Food

The agrifood sector extends across the entire food spectrum, from primary production to processing, marketing, and distribution. Both the Dutch and the international agrifood sector are committed to the production of top-quality food in sustainable chains, where people, livestock, and the environment are paramount. In order to meet this commitment a consumer-oriented and market-based approach is essential.

Dietary patterns of consumers

Wageningen Economic Research helps clients to gain insight into the purchasing behaviour and dietary patterns of consumers (individually and collectively). We identify the determining factors and point the way towards the realisation of behavioural change.

Knowledge of purchasing behaviour

Here at Wageningen Economic Research, we provide this insight by deploying a personalised approach in which analysis and evidence-based advice play a central role. We draw upon extensive, current data and our wide-ranging knowledge of international consumer segments to identify purchasing behaviour and dietary patterns for different food products in different contexts.

We help our clients to meet the challenges in a number of ways:

  • Together we work out consumer-oriented food concepts and use these as a basis for business and earnings models.
  • We see personalised nutrition as a way of helping people to opt for sustainable and healthy food (in their purchasing behaviour).
  • We explore the themes of Youth, Food, and Behaviour, and study the effects of interventions on the behaviour and educational performance of primary school children.

Databank consumer behaviour

At the same time, we are constantly expanding our experience of the development and evaluation of interventions by collaborating with the public and private sector in numerous projects. We deploy a wide array of instruments and tools to help public and private sector organisations to select and set up feasible interventions and assess their effectiveness. We have also built a databank on consumer behaviour on the basis of the outcomes of the many consumer studies that we carry out, and update it regularly with data generated by a game developed in-house.

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