Abstract

One of the principal barriers to the consumption of healthy foods is the fact that they are not perceived as tasty as unhealthy food alternatives. This research investigates the potential influence of package sustainability on food taste perception. Across two experimental studies we demonstrate that food presented in sustainable package appears to be tastier than the same food presented in a non-sustainable package. Importantly, this relation is verified for healthy foods (i.e., dark chocolate presented as healthy, organic apricots) but not for unhealthy foods (i.e.,caramelized apricots). The results of this work contribute to extending knowledge about the influence of package on food perceptions, finding another driver of taste estimation bias, namely sustainability. Moreover, our research provides practical implications for package design and health policymaking.