Price (59%) Trumps Freshness (51%), Taste (32%) for
Canadians When Grocery Shopping

Toronto, ON - Price trumps freshness and taste for Canadians when filling their grocery carts, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News.

The results of the survey show that 59% of Canadians say that price is among their top two factors when deciding which products or brands to buy (27% most important/32% second-most important), ahead of freshness (51% total - 32% most/19% second most), and taste (32% total - 16% most/16% second most). Considerably less important factors for Canadians include that the food is labeled as being nutritious such as high fibre, low fat, etc, (18% total - 9% most/9% second most), that the food contains no artificial ingredients (18%total - 8% most/10% second most), that it's a trusted brand (16% total - 7% most/9% second most) and the product's calorie count (6% total - 1% most/5% second most).

With large discount retailers now selling groceries and competing with grocery store chains, competition in the grocery sector is intense. However, despite this increased competition, half (47%) of Canadians feel like their grocery bills have been going up, compared to just 8% who believe that prices are going down. Nearly half (45%) believe that prices have stayed the same.

Canadians are willing to shell out more money for some food, however, with seven in ten (71%) `agreeing' (23% strongly/48% somewhat) that they are `willing to pay more for food if it's locally-grown or produced', up 2 points since 2012, while just three in ten (29%) `disagree' (8% strongly/22% somewhat), down 2 points.

Four in ten (42%) `agree' (9% strongly/34% somewhat) that they're `willing to pay more for products which make health claims', down 2 points since 2011, while a majority (58%) `disagrees' (18% strongly/40% somewhat) that they're willing to pay more for products that make health claims (up 2 points).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 22nd to 27th , 2015 on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,005 Canadians from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

About Ipsos in Canada

Ipsos is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos' marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 87 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media, customer loyalty, marketing, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.