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report : The Food Revolution Barometer 2021

New report reveals how the pandemic has increased the public’s interest in the injustices of the food system

Social listening data & analysis from Bloom and Futerra, sponsored by Danone, shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to raise awareness of our interdependencies and the social cost of a broken food system

June 30, 2021 London UK – Released today, The Food Revolution Barometer reveals the 14 biggest shifts in the public conversation on food and sustainability, highlighting the implications of the pandemic for the future of food. This resource provides insight into the latest people sentiment, equipping leaders working in the food system to future-proof themselves and the industry for the rapidly changing consumer landscape.

Powered by proprietary technology from social analytics firm Bloom and packaged with change analysis by Futerra, the sustainability strategy and communications agency, the Food Revolution Barometer portrays  correlations between social media content, actors and communities, and tracks the spread of each conversation as well as the associated emotions of each. Since English listening began in 2018, online conversations about sustainability and food have grown from 30 million to 107 million in 2021, and every conversation, whether about health, environment or people, has grown in size

The Food Revolution Barometer outlines 14 of the biggest shifts impacting the food system and offers an understanding into where each of the shifts is possibly moving towards in the coming years. The latest shifts reveal how for the first time equity and justice are getting more airtime in people’s conversations about food than environmental issues. There was a strengthening of communities around local and shared food while fears arose of food scarcity, with also greatly accelerated public awareness of the inverse relationship between the important contribution that food workers provide, and the amount of consideration society affords them

Barometer methodology: latest report is based on social media conversations collected by Bloom in English from October to November 2020 and March to April 2021. Bloom uses a combination of AI-powered tools and quantitative and qualitative analysis before the findings are packaged with change analysis from Futerra.

food revolution

The food system is the perfect example of how deeply interconnected people and planet are. And this breakthrough social listening research in The Food Revolution Barometer shows us how the public around the world is increasingly aware of this and demanding much more from business and government to offer regenerative and just solutions

Solitaire Townsend, Co-Founder of Futerra shares, “The food system is the perfect example of how deeply interconnected people and planet are. And this breakthrough social listening research in The Food Revolution Barometer shows us how the public around the world is increasingly aware of this and demanding much more from business and government to offer regenerative and just solutions”.

Although equity and justice formed the content of most conversations, environmentally focused behaviours had solidified as standard practice. Sustainability is now a basic requirement in the way people make and express their food choices. Following a plant-based diet, through daily, flexible, and easy to adopt habits, is now recognized as the key solution to sustainability, while also contributing better to physical and mental health compared to conventional food choices.

Nigyar Makhmudova, Chief Growth Officer at Danone shares, “We are delighted to be partnering with Futerra & Bloom to launch the Food Revolution Barometer, as we believe in collaboration as a driving force. It is a really important piece of work that is central to powering the Food Revolution and by making this knowledge public, the wider ecosystem might also join forces. By helping us all get closer to people, it has the potential to change the way the food industry works. At Danone, we use this people-powered knowledge to best tailor brands and product portfolios with a near-to-real-time understanding of their needs.”

Overall, the growth in consumers’ conversations is the result of more people becoming mobilized around the issues, and it’s no longer left to activists alone to drum up awareness. Public animosity towards the bigger players in the food system already existed, but now the hostility people feel toward decision makers and industrial farming, is spreading.

We are delighted to be partnering with Futerra & Bloom to launch the Food Revolution Barometer, as we believe in collaboration as a driving force. It is a really important piece of work that is central to powering the Food Revolution and by making this knowledge public, the wider ecosystem might also join forces. By helping us all get closer to people, it has the potential to change the way the food industry works. At Danone, we use this people-powered knowledge to best tailor brands and product portfolios with a near-to-real-time understanding of their needs

Conversations are evolving towards an increasingly acute demand for justice, which can be summarized as access for all to healthy food that respects both the environment and people. The pandemic, and the health and social problems that followed, accelerated this trend, but it was already here before 2020.

Aurélie David, VP Head of Data consulting at Bloom shares, “Conversations are evolving towards an increasingly acute demand for justice, which can be summarized as access for all to healthy food that respects both the environment and people. The pandemic, and the health and social problems that followed, accelerated this trend, but it was already here before 2020.”

Barometer methodology: latest report is based on social media conversations collected by Bloom in English from October to November 2020 and March to April 2021. Bloom uses a combination of AI-powered tools and quantitative and qualitative analysis before the findings are packaged with change analysis from Futerra.

For each of the 14 shifts, the report includes two ‘Possibles’ visions for where each shift could go in the coming years. These offer input for businesses to consider how they will adapt and respond to the rapidly transforming food system.

The report launched today with a webinar hosted by Solitaire Townsend – Co-Founder of Futerra, with Ethan Soloviev – Chief Innovation Officer at HowGood, Leah Penniman, Co-Director and Farm Manager at Soul Fire Farm, Author of Farming While Black and Nigyar Makhmudova – Chief Growth Officer at Danone. The recording can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs-S6m4TDoc.