The global ethical food market is expected to grow against a backdrop of increasing consumer awareness and the expansion of ESG investments (investments considering environmental, social and governance factors). The market combines a diverse range of segments such as organic, fair trade and plant-based, with particular attention currently on plant-based food. By region, North America and Europe lead the market. In APAC, religious dietary laws like halal and kosher have an increasing presence.
Still, ethics are not a primary motivator for purchases, as tangible values like price and taste tend to take priority. In Japan, low awareness and high prices also form barriers to the wider uptake of ethical food.
The key to market expansion lies in balancing ethical value with tangible value such as quality, taste and health benefits, through technological innovations in food tech* and regenerative agriculture**. Additionally, brands need to secure consumer trust through transparency and show the real benefits on offer by relating products to practical initiatives such as support for local production and tackling food loss and waste.
The global ethical food market looks set to grow, but low awareness and high prices are barriers to this market's growth here in Japan. Brands hoping to expand the market must show the real benefits on offer to consumers by highlighting tangible benefits like quality and health, and tie these in to practical initiatives that support localism or tackle food loss and waste.
Kimiaki Yamamoto, Associate Director – Food and Drink, Japan
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Executive summary
- Key points covered in this Report
- Overview
- Scope and definitions used in this Report
- Global market overview and trends
- Global key market factors
- Key trends influencing added value creation in ethical food
- Key market factors in Japan, consumer insights and market opportunities
- Japanese market overview
- Three insights from the consumer survey
- Three key opportunities
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Global market overview
- Why is now the time for ethical food?
- Predictions point to growth for the ethical food market
- The segments that form the ethical food market
- Organic is the largest segment in the ethical food market, and it continues to grow
- Fair trade: supporting economic stability in producer communities
- Animal welfare is increasingly tied to downstream demand
- High growth potential anticipated for plant-based food
- Regional trends
- Regional trends: North America
- Organic food market is seeing steady growth
- Trends in North America’s plant-based food market
- Graph 1: plant-based claim on new food and drink products, 2020-24
- More food and drink is talking about animal welfare
- Graph 2: ethical – animal claims in new food and drink products, 2020-24
- Regional trends: Europe
- Ethical is becoming the norm for products in Europe
- Graph 3: ethical claims in new food and drink products, 2020-24
- The Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy influencing the future of ethical food in Europe
- Europe is driving the ethical food market
- Regional trends: APAC
- Asia’s market has potential for ethical food growth
- Graph 4: ethical claims in new food and drink products, 2020-24
- Organic food presence in processed foods is declining
- Graph 5: organic claims in new food and drink products, 2020-24
- Religious dietary restrictions also extend an influence on the ethical food market
- Consumer attitudes and behaviours towards ethical food and drink
- Around 30% of consumers in Western markets routinely choose ethical food
- Graph 6: consumers who choose ethical foods all or most of the time, 2020-24
- Ethical claims only resonate with a limited number of consumers
- Graph 7: priorities when buying food and drink, 2024
- Favourable views of localism, but signs of a drift away from environmentalism
- Price is another high barrier to ethical food purchase
- Graph 8: barriers to choosing food/drink products with sustainability claims, 2024
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Global trends
- Breaking through the barriers to ethical food
- Key trends influencing added value creation in ethical food
- Food tech delivers new diet diversity and ethical options
- What food tech can provide in value
- Major areas of food tech
- Alternative protein development
- Products with plant-based protein
- Cell cultured protein products
- Fermentation technology in protein products
- Upcycling and the fight against food loss
- Food to food upcycled products
- Development of substitutes to support more sustainable use of ingredients
- Next-generation production systems
- A regenerative approach clears the way for a sustainable future of food
- Value in primary industries working to maintain and restore sustainability
- Examples and indicators of regenerative agriculture
- How produce of regenerative agriculture is appearing in products on the market
- How different industries are moving towards regenerative systems
- A supply chain built on transparency, trust and empathy
- The significance of transparency and traceability today
- Challenges in gaining consumer trust and the need for transparency
- Regional trends in transparency and traceability regulations
- Major international certifications in ethical food
- Technology trends in traceability
- Give consumers a real understanding of the supply chain all the way from the beginning
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Japanese market overview
- Japan’s ethical food market size
- Current state and outlook for ethical food market segments
- Organic ingredients are not appearing in new food and drink launches
- Graph 9: ethical claims in new food and drink products, 2020-24
- Japanese society’s openness to ethical food
- Awareness and ethical action do not always align
- Signs of eco-fatigue among hyper-aware teens
- Price is also a high hurdle for ethical food in Japan
- Japan’s ethical food market today, and the challenges it is facing
- Japan’s main trends
- Food tech is making waves across industry boundaries
- Drinks are driving the alternative protein market
- Upcycled food developments in Japan
- Alternative ingredients research and development to address resource depletion
- Initiatives for sustainable fisheries
- Regional and corporate efforts to make sustainable agriculture and fisheries a reality
- Regenerative initiatives in Japan
- How regenerative agriculture can make use of abandoned farmland and help to control disease
- Restoring marine ecosystems and creating new value
- A trusted supply chain, built for sustainability
- How attention on greenwashing now may cause a future headache
- Delays in traceability legislation and systems
- Strengthening supply chain resilience
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Japanese consumer insights
- Three insights from the consumer survey
- Routes to awareness hinder the spread of ethical food
- Summary of findings
- Awareness and passion for ethical food is at a low level
- Graph 10: awareness and interest in ethical food, by generation and gender, 2025
- Financial situation may affect awareness of ethical food, but does not impact interest
- Graph 11: awareness and interest in ethical food, by financial situation, 2025
- Different touchpoints for different generations
- Graph 12: ethical food information sources, by generation and gender, 2025
- Consumers don’t search for information on ethical food; it finds them
- Graph 13: ethical food information sources, by financial situation, 2025
- Enthusiasm for finding information on ethical food varies by awareness and level of interest
- Graph 14: sources of information on ethical food, by awareness and interest in ethical food, 2025
- What ‘waste not, want not’ attitudes and localism say about the potential for ethical food
- Summary of findings
- Tackling food loss is the first thing that comes to mind with ethical food across all generations
- Graph 15: associations with ethical food, by generation and gender, 2025
- Gen X+ women’s ethical food purchases are about tackling food loss
- Graph 16: purchase experience in different food categories of products that contribute to food loss prevention, by gender and generation, 2025
- Some consumers want to fight food loss whatever their financial situation
- Graph 17: purchase experience in different food categories of products that contribute to food loss prevention, by financial situation, 2025
- Enthusiasm for ethical food ties in with high levels of practical experience
- Graph 18: purchase experience of food categories contributing to food loss prevention, by awareness and interest in ethical foods, 2025
- Many consumers have purchased a local product before
- Graph 19: purchase experience of ethical characteristics, by food category, 2025
- Older consumers are more likely to have purchased locally produced foods
- Graph 20: purchase experience in different food categories of products that are locally produced for local consumption, by gender and generation, 2025
- Consumers in all financial situations have experience purchasing food produced locally
- Graph 21: purchase experience in different food categories of products that are locally produced for local consumption, by gender and generation, 2025
- One in four consumers purchase local food products even if they don’t know about what ethical food means
- Graph 22: purchasing experience of food categories that are produced locally (for local consumption), by awareness and interest in ethical foods, 2025
- Barriers to ethical food purchase intent and premiums
- Summary of findings
- Consumers recognise ethical food’s value, but not necessarily its premium
- Graph 23: price tolerance for ethical food, by gender and generation, 2025
- Even if someone’s finances are healthy, they might not see premium value in ethical food
- Graph 24: price tolerance for ethical food, by financial situation, 2025
- Ethical food enthusiasts perceive a premium value here
- Graph 25: price tolerance for ethical food, by awareness and interest in ethical food, 2025
- Ethical claims alone struggle to build persuasive premium positioning
- Graph 26: drivers of ethical food purchase when more expensive than regular food, by gender and generation, 2025
- Ethical claims alone struggle to build persuasive premium positioning
- Graph 27: drivers of ethical food purchase when more expensive than regular food, by financial situation, 2025
- Only ethical food enthusiasts evaluate value from multiple perspectives
- Graph 28: drivers of ethical food purchase when more expensive than regular food, by awareness and interest in ethical food, 2025
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Opportunities in the Japanese market
- Three key opportunities
- Deliver a nudge with localism and the fight against food loss as an incentive
- Prioritise concrete action over lofty concepts
- Transform overlooked waste into value
- Deliver a nudge through play and accomplishment
- Promote shopping to support as a way to bring consumers and producers closer together
- Changing consumer values and the rise of shopping to support
- What crowdfunding and Furusato Nozei tell us about shopping to support
- Promote shopping to support for products made in a distant region
- Make the unseen seen by showing what producers and production areas look like today
- Present consumers with the benefits they gain from showing support
- Form a community of the relational population
- Build and promote a concept of ethical luxury
- Endure to enjoy: transforming the value on offer in ethical food
- Redefine ethical food as part of a richly lived life
- Pursue exceptional quality and rarity
- Enhance storytelling and transparency
- Deliver emotional value that resonates with sensory appeal
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APPENDIX
- Consumer survey methodology
- Definition of generations
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