A third of Hungarians are still looking for ways to eat more healthily and only a quarter of them eat consciously

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2025/8-9.

Guest writer:
Péter Schauermann
business development lead
Impetus Research

Unfortunately, they represent a minority, says Péter Schauermann, business development lead of Impetus Research. Together these two segments make up 25% of the adult population, or approximately 1.6 million people.

The Health Conscious segment includes Hungarians who can be considered role models in the field of conscious eating. They say they are highly knowledgeable on the subject and enjoy reading and seeking information about healthy eating and lifestyles. This is a group that very often checks the ingredients of products when shopping, and it includes a higher proportion of people aged 55-69, urban dwellers and university graduates.

Members of the Instinctively Healthy segment also follow a healthy lifestyle, but they are less informed and conscious about food than members of the Health Conscious group. They exercise regularly and many of them even follow some kind of diet. The taste of food is very important to them and in some cases this even overrides what they consider to be a healthy choice. Their above-average income allows them to choose higher quality, healthier products from store shelves.

The segment of Searchers comprises 33% of the adult population – around 2.1 million people. Members of this group are honest with themselves and acknowledge that they live unhealthily. However, they have the intention to change and they occasionally try to live and eat differently, but they are unable to achieve a lasting lifestyle change in their own lives. They also say they need to learn more about how to live and eat healthily, as their knowledge in this field is still inadequate. In addition to the taste of food, the price of products is also an important factor for them, so premium food can’t turn up in their shopping baskets on a daily basis.

One in ten Hungarians, roughly 650,000 people belong to the Uninformed group. Many of them can’t even decide whether they eat healthily or unhealthily, as their knowledge in this area is very limited. Unfortunately, they also lack the motivation to pay attention to their diet. They are unable to navigate the flood of information about nutrition. People with lower incomes are overrepresented in this group, so many can’t afford higher quality food.

The large group of Resigned consumers includes at least 2 million people, and in many ways can be described as the segment lagging behind the most. Not only do they pay no attention to their diet, they also rarely exercise and are uninformed about healthy eating. Worst of all, they don’t want to change their current unhealthy eating habits. They are mostly fans of traditional Hungarian cuisine and prefer products that are less recommended by dietitians, such as white bread, high-sugar sweets and carbonated soft drinks. Although their income is limited – middle-income earners are overrepresented in this segment – they are more open to ready meals and are happy to buy them as their income allows.

“This is the group that lacks not only the income but also the openness to start living a healthier life”,

explains Péter Schauermann.