Cow-free cheese: German consumers increasingly open to precision fermentation-based products

Some 57% of those surveyed were willing to try the cheese, 24% said they would accept it as a substitute for dairy cheese and 14% were willing to pay more for it.

The team examined how consumers accept PF cheese after learning about the potential opportunities and risks of the technology, including its relation to sustainability, impact on agriculture and product quality (consistency and naturalness).

Consistent quality and environment and animal protection emerged as the most influential benefits contributing to consumer acceptance.

“Our study shows that consumers in Germany are open to cheese from precision fermentation if they are informed about the benefits and high quality of the product,” says Dr. Sarah Kühl, first author and chair for marketing for Food and Agricultural Products at the University of Göttingen.

“However, it is important to design the communication carefully to address concerns about the impact on traditional agriculture.”

The study surveyed nearly 2,000 participants online and was conducted in collaboration with LI Food – Landesinitiative Ernährungswirtschaft Niedersachsen and the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL).

The main findings, published in the international journal Future Foods:

– in general, access to information has only a minor influence on whether consumers would try or buy PF cheese

– reference to the technological genetic modification of the microorganisms required for the production process leads to a “slightly significantly lower” willingness to try the product.

– providing more and detailed information about the technology increased the acceptance of PF cheese among the respondents. Moreover, information about the technology’s existing use in other products (similarity heuristic) also raised acceptance.

– taste is a dominant factor in cheese purchasing, with 95% of consumers deeming it “extremely important” or “important”

– 64% considered good animal husbandry an important aspect, while the type of packaging (28%) and a certain brand (24%) were the least distinguished aspects.

– 81% of the participants had never heard of the term precision fermentation before the research team introduced it to them, and another 16% had heard of it but did not know what it meant

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