Research is at the heart of all we do. From food industry trends to consumer attitudes and behaviors, The Center for Food Integrity conducts research and provides expert insights to help those growing, raising and producing our food make sound decisions in an ever-evolving landscape.
At The Center for Food Integrity (CFI), our peer‐reviewed and published Consumer Trust Model℠ shows that shared values are up to five times more influential than expertise in building trust. When we lead with empathy and acknowledge the motivations behind consumers’ decisions, we create a credible foundation that can withstand conflicting information and polarized opinions, a critical advantage in today’s evolving food and agriculture landscape.
A New Lens on Consumer “Truth”
Building on the principles of our Trust Model℠, CFI, in partnership with FMI—The Food Industry Association, has introduced its latest belief-based consumer research. This research identifies five distinct consumer segments, each with its own perspective on what constitutes “truth” in food and agriculture. Some prioritize transparent storytelling, while others rely on rigorous data or community values. Recognizing these variations helps stakeholders tailor messaging to truly resonate, especially among the two most influential segments that steer much of the conversation around credibility and buying decisions.
Why It Matters
Amid proliferating information channels and contradictory “facts,” trust is a precious currency. The insights from our research clarify how to connect with consumers on a shared foundation, bridging gaps through empathy, credible information and a focus on what truly matters to each segment.
By aligning communication with these core drivers, organizations can:
To see how the fundamentals of trust underpin consumer acceptance and public support, visit our Why Trust Matters page.
Moving from Insights to Impact
Our latest research offers practical ways to ground your communications in CFI’s Trust Model℠, addressing each segment’s deeper values while still highlighting scientific rigor and transparency. By blending empathy, clarity, and data, you can guide consumers through today’s most complex challenges in food and agriculture.
Truth to Trust: 2025 Consumer Insights in Action
Uncover five distinct consumer segments—and their definitions of “what’s real” with CFI’s newest research and strategic framework. Grounded in our peer-reviewed Trust Model, Truth to Trust helps food and agriculture organizations build credibility in a complex environment where personal beliefs, polarization, and “someone like me” can override facts alone.
What We Offer
Target the Right Audience: Map your organization’s priorities to each belief-based segment for deeper credibility and loyalty.
Build Evidence-Based Messaging: Develop authentic, values-driven outreach that connects with today’s skeptical consumers.
Implement with Confidence: Partner with us to execute influencer strategies, digital content, and more, ensuring plans move beyond paper into real-world impact.
Equip Your Team: Use our interactive workshops and toolkits for consistent messaging and stakeholder alignment.
Measure & Refine: Track your progress with an adaptive plan that fosters long-term trust and results.
Of the three primary elements that drive trust—confidence (shared values and ethics), competence (skills and ability) and influential others (family, friends and credentialed individuals),—our peer-reviewed and published research shows that confidence, or shared values, is three-to-five times more important than competence in building trust.
Social license must be earned every day. Trust is built by demonstrating that those involved in producing, processing and selling food share their values when it comes to topics they care about most, like safe food, quality nutrition, outstanding animal care and environmental stewardship.
Getting into the minds of consumers to better understand their attitudes and actions can be a daunting exercise for the food industry. That’s why the Center for Food Integrity conducts research and collaborates with some of the industry’s leading social scientists – analyzing and interpreting data on a variety of food and ag topics to better explain consumers’ current mindset and what may be on the horizon.
For example, most recently we partnered with Lux MotivBase, an artificial intelligence anthropologist team that does real-time observational ethnography on big data to produce and present reports related to consumers and transparency. It’s deep knowledge detailing consumer attitudes, behaviors and fears and identifying emerging trends.
Learn More about Illuminate™ Insights
CFI convened the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply, a multi-stakeholder group comprised of leading animal welfare scientists, egg suppliers, and
restaurant and food retail companies to conduct research that evaluated various laying hen housing systems. The research examined the impact of multiple variables on a sustainable system. This commercial-scale study, which evaluated conventional cage, enriched colony and cage-free aviary laying hen housing systems and potential impacts on food safety, the environment, hen health and well-being, worker health and safety and food affordability, provides food system stakeholders with science-based information on sustainability factors to guide informed production and purchasing decisions.