Prepared for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
Supplier: Ipsos Limited Partnership
Contract number: CW2338997
Contract value: $99,632.10 (including HST)
Award date: 2023-11-20
Delivery date: May 27, 2024
Registration Number: POR 089-23
For more information on this report, please contact Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at aafc.info.aac@agr.gc.ca.
Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français.
This public opinion research report presents the results of an online survey conducted by Ipsos Limited Partnership on behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). The research study was conducted with 5,500 individuals across four countries: Japan (n=1,750), Vietnam (n=1,750), the Philippines (n=1,000) and South Korea (n=1,000) between February 22 and March 11, 2024.
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from AAFC. For more information on this report, please contact Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at aafc.info.aac@agr.gc.ca.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
1341 Baseline Road
Ottawa, ON K1A 0C5
Catalogue Number: A22-686/2024E-PDF
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 978-0-660-72306-8
AAFC Number: 13225E
Related publications registration number: POR 089-23
Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : 2023-24 Perceptions des consommateurs à l’égard de l’agriculture, des aliments et des produits de la mer canadiens au Vietnam, au Japon, aux Philippines et en Corée du Sud
Catalogue Number: A22-686/2024F-PDF (Final Report, French)
ISBN: 978-0-660-72307-5
©His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2024.
Ipsos was commissioned by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to conduct public opinion research on attitudes and behaviours as it relates to Canadian food products in select international markets.
In 2006, AAFC launched Canada Brand to raise the profile of Canadian food in international markets and increase awareness of the Canadian agriculture industry specifically, as well as to help differentiate Canadian food products from the competition.
AAFC refreshed its Canada Brand tools to better optimize them for digital platforms and sought to expand Canada’s presence in Vietnam and Japan in particular. As part of this effort, targeted Canada Brand pilots were launched in 2023-24 in these markets which featured digital and e-commerce marketing consumer campaigns.
To help evaluate the effectiveness of the campaigns, AAFC commissioned Ipsos to conduct this study in Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, and South Korea. This survey focuses on better understanding consumer behaviours, perceptions of Canadian products and evolving market demand. The findings of the research will help to inform future market development activities and supports the AgriCommunication Stream 2 program objective to share information and engage with the agriculture and agri-food sector about the evolving expectations and behaviors of foreign consumers.
The findings from this research seek to build on the previous surveys conducted among consumers in Japan in 2021-22 and Vietnam in 2022-23. The survey seeks to measure consumer behaviours, perceptions of Canadian products, processes, and evolving market demands, and where possible to track results compared to the first wave of the survey. The survey conducted among consumers in the Philippines and South Korea will be used to establish a baseline from which to measure against in the future.
Specific objectives of the research include, but are not limited to, assessing:
The public opinion research (POR) was conducted through a quantitative survey executed through online interviews among a national sample of general population adult consumers (20 years and older) in Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea. A total of n=1,750 surveys were completed in each Vietnam and Japan, and n=1,000 in the Philippines and South Korea. The sample was sourced from online panel sources in the respective markets and quotas and weighting were applied to ensure the final sample reflects the general population by key demographic factors.
It is important to note that in Vietnam and the Philippines, the sample that can be recruited is more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. Therefore, the results should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more "connected" segment of the population. In South Korea, the sample consists of those with primary education or higher.
Fieldwork was conducted from February 22 through to March 11, 2024. Average survey length varied by country: in Japan, 5 minutes; in Vietnam, 10 minutes; in South Korea, 5 minutes; in the Philippines, 8 minutes.
Quotas and weighting were employed by gender, age, and region to reflect the composition of the general population in each country, based on statistics collected by official agencies in each country. Results were accurate to within plus or minus 2.9 percentage points in Japan and in Vietnam total sample and 3.8 percentage points in South Korea and the Philippines, compared to what the results would have been had every adult consumer in each country been polled.
The contract value for the POR survey was $99,632.10 (including HST).
Consumers in Vietnam are by-far most likely to have purchased Canadian food recently, followed by the Philippines and South Korea, while those in Japan are much less likely. Compared to food imported from other countries, products from the US are most established across all markets, followed by those from Australia, while results are consistent for Canada and New Zealand and lower for France. While penetration of Canadian food is high in Vietnam, room for improvement exists in terms of increasing exposure particularly in Japan and South Korea.
Meat, fish and seafood, and maple syrup and honey are the most popular Canadian food products across all markets, with some exceptions. Consumers in the Philippines are most likely to have purchased confectionary and snacks and natural health products which are also among the most popular in Vietnam along with fruits and vegetables. Beyond the most prominent categories, there is a significant opportunity to increase awareness and purchase of a wider range of Canadian foods.
Consistent with the purchasing of Canadian food in general, awareness and purchase of products online is considerably higher in Vietnam than in Japan. Converting awareness into purchase has been most successful for meat, fish, and seafood, and to a lesser extent maple syrup, and is lowest for alcoholic beverages and natural health products. Increasing the visibility of Canadian food products online is of particular importance in Japan, though both countries could benefit from greater exposure.
More than seven in ten (72%) Vietnamese consumers who have shopped at a Canada Brand food retailer in the past six months recall having seen Canadian food products online compared to roughly four in ten (44%) Japanese consumers. In terms of specific types of Canadian food products, more than half of Vietnamese consumers recall all types of Canadian food products while shopping online, while in Japan awareness is mainly concentrated on maple syrup and honey, beef, pork and other meat, fish, and seafood.
Among those aware of each type of food, Vietnamese consumers are considerably more likely to have purchased the product compared to Japanese consumers, except for maple syrup and honey where results are roughly equivalent.
When looking at how successful Canadian food products have been at converting awareness into purchase, a considerably higher proportion of Vietnamese consumers who recall each type of product report making a purchase compared to Japanese consumers.
Top-of-mind associations of food with Canada are dominated by mentions of specific types of food products and consumers are most likely to think of maple syrup, meat, and fish and seafood, while those in the Philippines are also more likely to mention chocolate and sweets. “Made in Canada” labels are by far the most common way consumers know a product is from Canada, followed by the maple leaf symbol.
When thinking of food from Canada, consumers in all markets except Vietnam are most likely to mention maple syrup (Japan: 43%, South Korea: 27%, Philippines: 26%, Vietnam: 11%), followed by beef, pork and other meat (Japan: 16%, South Korea: 9%, Philippines: 13%, Vietnam: 20%), and fish and seafood (Japan: 13%, South Korea: 6%, Philippines: 3%, Vietnam: 15%). In Vietnam, beef, pork, and other meat are most commonly associated with Canada, followed by fish and seafood, maple syrup, and fruit. Notably, mentions of chocolate and sweets are higher among consumers in the Philippines than other markets.
Similarly, when asked to name types of foods they associate with Canada maple syrup and beef, pork and other meat are consistently among the top mentions across all markets.
Among those who have purchased a Canadian food product, by far the most common way consumers knew it was from Canada is because the product had a “Made in Canada” label (Japan: 73%, Vietnam: 79%, South Korea: 61%, Philippines: 79%), and to a lesser extent the maple leaf symbol (Japan: 38%, Vietnam: 51%, South Korea: 50%, Philippines: 45%). In Vietnam, roughly half of consumers also relied on other ways to identify Canadians food products including that it was promoted as Canadian in-store (53%) or online (47%), or familiarity with the brand name or producer (50%). In the Philippines, familiarity with the brand name or producer (41%) is also among the more common ways consumers identify Canadian products.
Satisfaction with Canadian food products is generally high across all markets, however consumers in Vietnam and the Philippines are much more likely to be “very satisfied”, while impressions are softer in Japan or South Korea. Canadian food products are most strongly associated with being “high-quality”, “safe”, “trustworthy”, and to a lesser extent “healthy” and “great tasting”, while impressions are generally weaker for being seen as “innovative” and “diverse”.
Among those who have purchased a Canadian food product in the past six months, satisfaction is highest in Vietnam (96% very/ somewhat satisfied) and the Philippines (94%), followed by Japan (80%) and South Korea (76%). Consumers in Vietnam and the Philippines are considerably more likely to be “very satisfied” with the product they purchased (73% and 49% respectively) compared to those in Japan (20%) or South Korea (14%) where most were “somewhat satisfied” (60% and 62% respectively).
The quality and to a lesser extent the taste of Canadian food products are consistently among the most common reasons consumers provided for their satisfaction with the product they purchased, however the primary reason varies by market.
Consumers in Vietnam and the Philippines have by far the most positive impressions of Canadian food products, while ratings are weaker in South Korea and Japan where consumers are more likely to express a neutral opinion or say they don’t know.
Interest in food products from Canada is by far the highest in the Philippines and Vietnam, followed by South Korea and Japan where interest is much softer and familiarity with Canadian food lower. In comparison to food imported from other countries, Canada is well-positioned, and interest is generally consistent with those from the US, Australia, and New Zealand, and higher than products from France.
Consumers are by far most likely to express interest in buying food products from Canada in the future in the Philippines (94% “very” or “somewhat interested”) and Vietnam (88%), where more than half are “very interested” (53% and 55% respectively), followed by South Korea (66%) and Japan (49%), where most are “somewhat interested” (55% and 41% respectively) and a higher proportion say they don’t know.
In comparison to food imported from other countries, interest in food products from Canada is generally consistent with those from the US, Australia, and New Zealand, while fewer express interest in products from France across all markets. Notably, consumers in Vietnam and the Philippines are more likely to be “very interested” in buying food products from Canada compared to other countries.
Broadly speaking, consumers in Japan and to a lesser extent South Korea are less interested in buying food products from all countries asked about in the survey and are somewhat more likely to be interested in products from Australia relative to other countries.
Virtually all consumers report using YouTube on a frequent basis across all markets, while Facebook is equally as popular in Vietnam and the Philippines. Social media and YouTube in particular, are among the most common sources of culinary inspiration and information which highlights the potential of these platforms for reaching and engaging consumers with Canadian food-related content.
When looking at reported use of social media platforms, consumer preferences vary by market and those in Vietnam and the Philippines are more likely to use all platforms compared to those in South Korea and Japan in particular.
YouTube, search engines like Google, family and friends, and Facebook are the most common sources for culinary inspiration and information about food and seafood across all markets. Notably, consumers in Japan are much less likely to use any of the sources explored in the survey.
In Japan and Vietnam, a strong majority of consumers have seen content about Canadian food in the past six months through at least one channel, of which YouTube (in both markets) and Facebook (in Vietnam) are the most prevalent.
In Japan, three quarters (76%) of those who use YouTube recall content about Canadian food in the past six months, while considerably fewer mention seeing anything on Instagram (32%). In Vietnam, two thirds (62%) of the consumers who use either YouTube or Facebook recall content about Canadian food, followed by TikTok (53%), while fewer mention Instagram (27%).
I hereby certify as Senior Officer of Ipsos that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada's political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.
Brad Griffin
President
Ipsos Public Affairs