With the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine, considerations about food security and costs are becoming more important for Swiss people. Almost 4 out of 5 voters (78 percent) want Switzerland to be independent of food imports.
The majority also agrees that they prefer to buy more expensive local products than cheaper imported products. “Only if the goods were actually manufactured domestically do 70 percent see the higher price of the products as justified,” says the 9th Monitor Nutrition and Exercise. Only a minority of those surveyed were of the opinion that the Swiss population would not notice a price difference of 50 centimes.
Younger people don’t want to pay more
There are major differences between the various age groups: the older the generation, the greater the need for security, the lower the price sensitivity and the greater the awareness of the connection between sustainability and nutrition.
The youngest Generation Z ticks similar to the war generation when it comes to independence from foreign imports. “But that is apparently only the case as long as it does not affect the wallet,” says the report.
Older generations also have a clear idea of how they want to deal with the increasing uncertainties, according to a statement on the monitor on Monday. Many of them prepare for emergencies with an emergency supply. 54 percent of those surveyed stated that they had one.
Generation Z, on the other hand, lacks a clear strategy. She finds the emergency supplies unnecessary and no longer wants to pay for locally produced goods.
Personal responsibility instead of laws
In general, the population still wants a society in which personal responsibility, information and education take precedence over state intervention, taxes and laws. Interventions such as a price increase for foods containing sugar, fat and salt or the general ban on supposedly unhealthy foods cannot win a majority.
In recent years, however, a shift towards greater acceptance of government measures can be observed, according to the statement. With the measures taken as part of the pandemic, a certain normality has crept in in this regard.
Nutrition: More competence
Today, a majority of those entitled to vote are interested in nutrition and exercise, find them important, feel informed and state that they eat a balanced diet and get enough exercise. However, the trend over the past ten years is clearly in the direction of less broadly anchored competencies – particularly in the area of nutrition, but also in the area of physical activity. For example, the proportion of fresh food consumed daily (fruit, vegetables) per person has fallen significantly over the past ten years. Millennials and younger people are an important driver of this general development.
While 77 percent of women feel well informed about nutrition, only 61 percent of men do. When it comes to exercise, the subjective level of knowledge is similar: Here, too, more women feel well informed (73%) than men (65%).
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Shopping tourism: Nobody wants to be
According to estimates, before the pandemic, the Swiss population spent around CHF 10 billion abroad every year. However, this is not reflected in the GFS survey. Very few say that they regularly go to neighboring countries to do their shopping. Only every fifth person does this at least occasionally. On the other hand, 66 percent state that they never cross borders to go shopping in neighboring countries.
Shopping tourism also depends on income. In households with a monthly income of more than 5,000 francs, going across the border to go shopping is much less common. And in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, shopping tourism is also much more widespread than in German-speaking Switzerland. The GFS attributes this to the geographical proximity of Latin Switzerland to France and Italy.
The nutrition and exercise monitor was carried out by gfs.bern for the 9th time in March 2022 for the information group on soft drinks. The data was collected in a representative survey of around 1,000 Swiss citizens who were eligible to vote.
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