The POCTEFA Know N Cheese Project, which brings together 6 entities on both sides of the Pyrenees, has represented during the month of April the study carried out on food sustainability associated with dairy consumption habits in Catalonia, Aragon, Euskadi, Navarre and the French departments of the Pyrenees.
This European project, which seeks to increase the competitiveness of traditional dairy and cheese farms by boosting their sustainability, has carried out a diagnosis of knowledge, needs and opportunities in terms of food sustainability among 1,500 people in these territories. From this study it has been possible to extract valuable information on the level of knowledge they have about sustainability in dairy production and their consumption habits of these foods.
The Abastos market in Vitoria-Gasteiz was the venue chosen for this presentation of the main conclusions drawn, with the participation of the three Basque project partners: Esneki Zentroa – Leartiker, HAZI and Prosumerlab, a consultancy firm specialising in consumer studies, which carried out the study presented. These three entities join the BETA Technology Centre (University of Vic) from Catalonia and, from France, Idele (Institut de l’elevage) and Interprofession lait de Brebis, in the development of this cross-border collaboration project.
These are some of the main conclusions of the study presented:
Purchase motivations
Taste and quality. According to the data from this study, the primary motivation for buying artisan cheese is the pleasure variable, both in Spain and in France. 79% of those surveyed in Spain and the same percentage of those surveyed in France decide to consume this type of cheese for its taste and quality.
Sustainability. With regard to sustainability as a value of artisanal cheese production, it is worth noting that the consumer public does not seem to consider the environmental sustainability of this type of production as a purchase motivation. In Spain, only 25% value it as a purchase driver, compared to 20% in France.
However, economic and social sustainability are values that do drive the purchase of artisan cheese. Thus, support for the local economy and small business producers do motivate people to buy artisan cheese. In Spain, 54% choose this type of cheese to support local producers and 49% because it is a local product. In France, the figures follow the same trend, being slightly higher in both cases.
Price. However, despite the positive assessment of food sustainability linked to artisan cheeses, price appears as a factor with the greatest impact on the final purchase decision, with 68% of consumers voting for it as a purchase motivation.
Health. Another of the main conclusions drawn is that health, or the perception that artisan cheeses are healthy products, is not a significant purchase motivation. This is only the case for 14% of the sample surveyed in Spain and 23% in France.
Times and places of purchase
Other results of the research show that, in general, consumers buy cheese in hypermarkets or supermarkets, with a small percentage of them buying directly from cheese dairies or markets, opting for longer, less sustainable value chains and, in general, with an economic impact on cheese dairies, which are forced to pay lower prices in order to appear on the shelves (competitive prices), which, a priori, could be understood as a low willingness to pay more for more sustainable products.
The results also show that local, PDO and artisan products are understood as sustainable. Thus, 47% of people surveyed in Spain and 40% in France do not buy these products, mainly because of their high price, so once again there does not seem to be a generalised willingness to pay for products that are classified as more sustainable.
In general, the more information about the product (its artisanal origin, its production method, etc.), the more consumers are willing to pay a higher price for an artisanal cheese, in particular, this situation was repeated among 61% of the people surveyed in Spain and 58% of those consulted in France
Low level of knowledge of local products
Nevertheless, the most significant conclusion of this diagnosis is the low level of knowledge that consumers show they have of local products. In Spain, only 17% of those surveyed said they knew of an artisanal cheese dairy in their area. In France, this percentage is considerably higher, reaching 31%.
The data extracted from this study will be used to focus the actions to be developed within the Know N Cheese project during 2025 and 2026, seeking to obtain more evidence to value the sustainability of this type of production, the incorporation of innovations and, as a final point, training actions for the dairy sector and consumer awareness to help boost the traditional dairy-cheese sector, favouring its sustainable growth.
All this and much more can be found in the technology watch report available on the project website.
