250 participants from Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe as well as China attended the Conference of Austrian Food Producers, organised by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. GIM delivered a lecture presenting the latest study on dietary behaviour in Eastern Europe. It outlines how countries in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe are witnessing the same developments as Western Europe with regard to demographic change, household and family structures, mobility and flexibility, health awareness, globalisation and individualisation, but at different rates. The latter depends on prevailing economic conditions, purchasing power, the level of education, and the dismantling of the urban-rural divide. Trends in the eating behaviour of Western Europeans in favour of convenience products, ?out-of-home consumption?, functional food, organic food, and food in terms of lifestyle will also gain a foothold in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe. Austrian food producers will be successful within South-Eastern Europe if they know which classes of buyers orient themselves towards Western lifestyles. The number of ?educated urban buyers? is rising in all these countries. It is thus important for the food industry and retail trade to understand which consumers orientate themselves most rapidly to the Western lifestyle, and where.

Further information: Luisa von Rotteck, +49 (6221) 8328-81