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Over the past 18 months, COVID has forced many of us to reconsider what we previously thought of as healthy eating habits. Borderless Access surveyed people’s changing eating habits around the world. Here we look at how people living in Sub-Saharan Africa (for this study we focused on Nigeria and South Africa) compared to their global peers, on this topic.

Sub-Saharan Africans are not health-trend followers

Worldwide, three-quarters of people have experimented with an aspect of their diet, with vegetarian preferences and low-sugar and low-fat options being the most popular. While almost 80% of Nigerians say they have tweaked their diet to some degree, around half of South Africans say they haven’t made any changes. Globally, there has been a dramatic shift towards meat-free diets, with 19% of all respondents admitting they had sought out vegan options. By contrast, only 6% of South Africans and 7% of Nigerians had done the same. This may be a reflection of the importance that meat-based meals play in these two cultures. However, when we looked at the number of people looking to reduce the amount of meat they ate overall, Sub-Saharan Africa followed closely behind international trends.

Facing the health crisis that COVID has provided has forced many of us to reconsider our personal well being. Coupled with this, we have been restricted to our homes, compelled to prepare our own food. Borderless Access surveyed people living in the Middle East, specifically the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, to see how these factors have affected the type of food people are eating and how people are getting this food.

A rise in health consciousness

Eliminating or reducing the amount of meat products they eat has been the most notable change in people’s diets since the start of the pandemic. Globally, 57% of people have experimented with vegan or vegetarian diets, with a further 20% saying they are consciously trying to eat less meat. Saudi Arabians follow this pattern (with a greater proportion of people opting for vegan as opposed to vegetarian meals). In the UAE there is still a dramatic shift towards meatless options, but to a lesser degree than its neighbour.

Following low-fat, low-sugar or low-carbohydrate diets has been popular everywhere, including in the Middle East, however, this group of people (especially Saudi Arabians) appear to be particularly health-conscious, with many people also trying to reduce gluten, salt and dairy products.

Imagine people widely using smartphones and laptops in the 1980s, colour TVs in the 1950s, or motor cars in the early 1900s. These technologies were regarded as futuristic concepts at first, but eventually became the way of life.

Similarly, the idea of operating a vehicle using electricity was conceived in the 19th century. Unfortunately, the concept did not progress beyond just being an amusement or as they say a parlour trick—“Look! No horse or ox, yet it moves!’’. Yet, after several ups and downs, when electric vehicles (EVs) subsequently entered the automobile market as an alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), they failed to penetrate the market due to multiple reasons.

With rising fuel prices and environmental concerns over the last few years, the automobile industry witnessed the return of EVs (electric vehicles) by new entrants such as Tesla painting a unique picture for the automobile sector with their high-performance EVs that use advanced technology.

This led to a disruption in the automobile sector causing dominant automobile brands to rethink their strategy and evolve. But the big question is, has the industry and brands been able to address the consumer concerns associated with EV adoption?

Hence, Borderless Access conducted a study across 13 markets [US, UK, Germany, France, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Brazil] to unlock the evolving behaviour, brand preferences, and factors influencing the attitudes and perceptions of EV owners. The insights here would also highlight the opportunities for brand marketers and how can they help drive EV adoption to gain a bigger market share for their brand.

Since Covid-19, there has been a dramatic shift in consumers' mindsets globally towards healthier lifestyle habits. Global digital market research company, Borderless Access, set out to find out what South Africans changed about their lifestyles and how food and beverage companies can help support consumers.

Renewed focus on health and fitness

Many South Africans used the weeks of lockdown as an opportunity to reset their health and fitness routines.

Of the 300 South Africans surveyed, 74% said they now consider health and fitness to be very important with eating healthily and exercising being placed at the top of their list of healthy habits. This was followed by eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water and more home-cooked food.  

“Covid-19 and the lockdowns over the last year definitely inspired South Africans to focus on being healthy and fit,” says Bev Tigar Bassett, AVP - Business Development at Borderless Access. “The most common changes we found people made during the pandemic was introducing home workouts into their routines and eating more healthily.”

Globally, lockdowns limiting people’s movements, coupled with a genuine fear of contracting COVID-19, have delivered a brutal blow to the hospitality industry. In Sub-Saharan Africa the lockdown rules in some countries have spanned from bans on the sale of alcohol in addition to strict curfews, intensifying the financial predicament for restaurants in particular. 

Borderless Access has done extensive research into the meal-buying habits of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically South Africa and Nigeria. Here we examine data on people’s buying habits, whether short-term or permanent, with regard to visiting restaurants, ordering takeaways, opting for drive-through choices, ordering meal kits to be cooked at home, buying ready-made meals from grocery stores, or choosing to only cook at home.

As Covid-19 has turned the world on its head, few industries have been as shaken up as that of restaurants and hospitality. Worldwide, restaurants and eating establishments have taken a beating as lockdown has resulted in closures, changes and restrictions to what used to be a burgeoning industry.

Borderless Access conducted research to understand eating out and ordering-in habits and how these have been shaped – both temporarily and permanently – by the ongoing global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, ordering in has been by far the most utilized activity in recent times… ordering food for delivery, ordering take-aways from a restaurant and ordering/ collecting food from a fast-food chain have been the top activities globally in the past 3 months, and both of these have been particularly well-utilized in both the UAE and Saudi.

How bot-enabled research can help businesses & brands develop a deeper understanding of personal/household hygiene habits in order to meet the needs of African consumers, and increase their business impact.

Many years ago, in the days of one-way communication, brands dictated their terms to consumers, and consumers had no option but to accept them if they wanted to purchase the brand in question.

With the rise of smartphones, social media and the internet of absolutely everything, the communication channels began to sway, shifting the locus of communication control. Two-way communication between brand and consumer was born, with brands starting to listen to their consumers and hear what they had to say. Taking this a step further, brands are now starting to take on human characteristics, from look-and-feel to tone and personalisation to establish deeper connections with their consumers.

Why tech-enabled research is the right solution for Africa: Exploring a Coca-Cola Africa case study on healthy consumption habits.

It goes without saying that life these days is digital. The internet never sleeps … in just 60 seconds it sees a frenzy of activity and engagement: In one global minute, over 208,000 people participate in Zoom meetings, 41,7 million WhatsApp messages are shared, 6,659 packages are shipped by Amazon and over 347,000 Instagram stories are posted … to name but a few of the active platforms on the web.