Transparency Builds Trust

It’s simple: If you increase transparency, you will increase trust.

A new report from The Center for Food Integrity’s (CFI) proved this in when it comes to consumer trust in food. In CFI's latest research, A Clear View of Transparency and How it Builds Consumer Trust, provides proof that transparency builds trust and identifies the most effective practices for building consumer trust.

“Transparency works,” said Charlie Arnot, CFI CEO in a news release. “We have statistical data to show that increasing transparency in farming, food production and processing will increase consumer trust.”

This year’s research is the culmination of three years of work on the concept of increasing food system transparency. Consumers have been asking for greater transparency and there have been varying attempts to define it. CFI’s research not only defines it, but now provides a clear path to achieve it and address the growing skepticism about food.

An online survey of 2,000 people explored which attributes are most important to consumers when it comes to trust-building transparency – policies, practices, performance or verification.

The 2015 research focused on areas that are important to consumers:

• Impact of Food on Health 
• Food Safety
• Impact on the Environment
• Human/Labor Rights
• Treatment of Animals Raised for Food
• Business Ethics in Food Production

The report highlights the 2015 consumer trust research and some best practices that the food system can use as a guide for increasing transparency. The study also reveals who the public holds most responsible for demonstrating transparency, specific areas where they expect transparency, and precisely where consumers want to access information that is most important to them.

Discover more about what CFI is doing and how this research can help farmers reach consumers at FoodIntegrity.org and BestFoodFacts.org.