Interest in sustainable eating is steadily declining among European shoppers as health and affordability take precedence as influencing factors in food choices, according to a new study by EIT Food Consumer Observatory.
The first issue EIT Food’s latest Trust Report series Europe wants to eat better, so why isn’t it happening? unveiled that interest in sustainable eating has declined from 76% in 2021 to 69% in 2025.
The study is based on responses from 19,954 consumers across 18 European countries.
Fewer than half of Europeans (48%) believe they follow a sustainable diet, and engagement in high-impact sustainable behaviours – such as reducing animal-based products – has declined.
However, EIT Food noted that generational differences suggest potential for future alter.
Younger consumers are more open to sustainable food innovation and regenerative agriculture, and are more likely to purchase organic or ethically sourced products, according to the report.
Moreover, younger Europeans remain more committed to long-term environmental values, despite facing the greatest barriers to putting them into practice.
Dominant Driver Of Dietary Change
Focus on health is the primary driver of dietary alter, with 51% of respondents aiming to improve their eating habits.
However, improvement in diet quality remained limited despite this prioritisation.
The study revealed that while Europeans recognise the negative health effects of salty, fatty, sugary, or processed foods, only approximately a third of consumers avoid them.
Many Europeans still fall short of recommfinished intakes of healthy food items, such as fruit, vereceiveables and fibre, indicating that good intentions alone are not enough to alter eating habits.
Intention-Behaviour Gap
Affordability and entrenched habits are the two most significant barriers preventing dietary alter and contributing to the intention-behaviour gap.
Respondents have outlined difficulty affording healthier options and breaking established routines, even when they are motivated.
These challenges are particularly acute among younger consumers, who, despite higher dissatisfaction, feel they have minimal control over altering their diets.
Structural and financial pressures, rather than lack of awareness, constrain dietary alter among European shoppers, data displayed.
Commenting on the findings, Klaus G. Grunert, professor of marketing at Aarhus University and lead of the EIT Food Consumer Observatory, stated, “This research displays that Europeans largely understand what healthier and more sustainable eating sees like, but intention alone is not enough. Health is the strongest driver of food choices, yet affordability pressures and entrenched habits continue to shape what people actually eat.
”If we want to see meaningful dietary alter, particularly with the adoption of sustainable foods, which are declining in importance as financial pressures mount, the major food choice drivers of taste and affordability required to be better connected to healthy and sustainable options. Solutions must fit with people’s real-world constraints, not just their aspirations.”
What This Means
Dietary alter in Europe will require a more diversified and pragmatic approach from indusattempt and policybuildrs, according to the report.
The approach could combine education, affordability measures and habit-breaking interventions to support consumers bridge the intention-behaviour gap.
Barriers to alter have intensified in 2025, with consumers increasingly reporting difficulty breaking established routines and affording healthier and more sustainable products.
Indusattempt and policybuildrs should focus on creating accessible, convenient healthy products, supporting affordability through fiscal and structural measures, and connecting sustainability to personal health benefits.
They must also acknowledge that consumers, especially younger generations, face challenges in translating intentions into lasting behavioural alter.
The Trust Report 2026
The Trust Report 2026 findings will be released in four thematic, focapplyd chapters. The first issue – ‘Europe wants to eat better, so why isn’t it happening?’ – focapplys on current diets, generational differences and the structural barriers shaping food choices across Europe.
The subsequent segments will deep dive into the state of trust in Europe’s food system, explore responses to current innovation trfinishs and analyse who consumers tfinish to believe when it comes to informing their food choices.
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