The Findex survey, which compiled the views of 3,200 people across the UK, US, Brazil and France, was created and commissioned by industry consultancy Canteen, part of J Walter Thompson (JWT) Worldwide.
It found that almost one in five Americans and Brits (18%) and one in four French (24%) distrust big food brands, citing over-processed foods as the main reason (53%), followed closely by brands prioritising profit over quality (49%).
Another third (34%) believed companies don’t care about the quality of their products at all. Despite the growing popularity of independent food companies, one in 10 (11%) distrust them because they are too expensive (30%) and they haven’t been around long enough (17%).
Replacing family dinners
The research also found that contradictory to the ‘Instagrammable’ trend, one third (36%) of those surveyed across all markets said they were tired of seeing food on social media.
When it comes to family time, almost four in 10 (37%) of Brits believe messaging service WhatsApp has replaced the time family dinners once owned.
Founder of Canteen at JWT, Megan Van Someren said: “Now more than ever, food plays an incredibly dynamic role in people’s daily lives.
“Yet, there is a lot of work to be done by food companies of all shapes and sizes to live up to people’s expectations.”
Experience evolution
She added: “We have commissioned this research to not only benefit brands, big and small, to help reimagine their business through the lens of food culture but to also benefit people and the food system overall.
“Too many people don’t feel like their food experiences measure up and we all need to work together to change this.
“Food is a part of who we are as people and I can’t stress enough, how important it is that we are evolving our experience and our relationships with what we eat.”