The findings, by research group Eurobarometer, suggest that 75 per cent of respondents would at least consider purchasing environmentally friendly products like food, with only one fifth of the survey group refusing to change their buying habits completely.

To ensure that consumers were trading up for environmental goods labelling schemes and education would to required to maximize interest, Eurobarometer said.

Processing potential

The research, which was conducted for the European Commission, highlights the improved potential for processors in the bloc of adapting to greener processing without burdening themselves with additional costs.

Out of the 75 per cent group of eco-concerned consumers, only 15 per cent of the umber were already found to be buying environmentally friendly products, having made such a purchase within the space of a month of taking the survey. However, the remainder of the group that said they were willing to switch to green consumption, according to the survey makers.

Intent to buy

Though the general pattern was found across Europe, the survey highlighted varying levels of actual green purchasing compared to intent to buy.

"In Denmark, Sweden and Austria, willingness to buy environmentally friendly products is high; they are also the most likely respondents in Europe to have bought environmentally friendly products in the past month," Eurobarometer stated. "On the contrary, Cypriots and Greeks also have very high intentions when it comes to buying environmentally friendly products, but they are among the least likely to have bought such products."

Eurobarometer said that there were several possible explanations for the inconsistency in the bloc. These reasons included financial considerations, as respondents with lower living standards like unemployed or lowed educated consumers, were found to be less likely to say they wished to buy the packaging, the survey said.

Another key factor for the discrepancy was the amount of quality information regarding what constituted environmental products, a concern that could be partly offset by clear labelling on packaging, according to Eurobarometer.