IN Brief:
- EIT Food surveyed 19,954 consumers across 18 European countries for the first chapter of its 2026 Trust Report series.
- Health is the strongest stated driver of dietary change, but affordability and entrenched habits are the main barriers.
- Interest in sustainable eating continues to decline, with only 48% saying they eat a sustainable diet.
Health is now Europe’s leading food-choice driver, but that has not translated into a broad shift in what people actually eat. That is the central finding from EIT Food’s latest consumer research, which surveyed 19,954 people across 18 European countries and found that 51% want to eat more healthily even as affordability pressures and entrenched habits continue to shape daily decisions.
The report shows that sustainability has slipped down the hierarchy. In 2021, 76% of respondents said they wanted to live sustainably. By 2025, that figure had fallen to 69%. When it comes to food specifically, only 48% believe they eat a sustainable diet, suggesting that environmental intent is weakening in practice as household budgets remain under pressure.
The gap between intention and behaviour is equally sharp on health. Europeans broadly recognise the downsides of salty, fatty, sugary, or processed foods, but only around a third say they actively avoid them. The data also points to continued under-consumption of fruit, vegetables, and fibre, indicating that awareness is not the main problem. The obstacle is execution.
EIT Food identifies affordability and difficulty in breaking established routines as the two biggest constraints. The picture that emerges is not one of consumer confusion, but one of friction. People know what they would prefer to do, but the structure of everyday food choice — price, habit, convenience, and repetition — is proving harder to shift than intent alone.
There is a generational divide, though it is not a simple one. Younger consumers are more open to sustainable food innovation, more receptive to ideas such as regenerative agriculture, and more likely to buy organic or ethically sourced products. At the same time, they report some of the strongest barriers to changing their diets and some of the lowest feelings of control over doing so.
Klaus G. Grunert, professor of marketing at Aarhus University and lead of the EIT Food Consumer Observatory, said: “This research shows that Europeans largely understand what healthier and more sustainable eating looks 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.”
The report was based on fieldwork carried out in July and August 2025. Its findings suggest that the centre of gravity in Europe’s food debate is shifting. Sustainability remains present, but for now it is increasingly filtered through a harder calculation built around price, routine, and what people feel able to change this week rather than what they say they want to change over time.
