The Caricom Private Sector Organization (CPSO), along with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat, and the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA), launched the Caricom Consumer Food Choice Survey on February 2, 2022.

The survey is touted as an important component of the study — “Caricom Impact Assessment Study: Determination of an Appropriate Front of Packaging Nutrition Labelling (FoPNL) Scheme and the Identification of a Harmonized Approach for Implementation” and examines consumer food choices to arrive at a better understanding of how different labelling schemes impact on consumer food purchasing behaviour.

The 52nd Ministerial Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) held in June 2021, approved the study.

Front of Package Nutritional Labelling (FOPNL) has been at the forefront of discussions among Caricom member states and key stakeholders, over the last three and a half years. Stakeholders have been focused on the need to implement a FOPNL model that assists Caricom consumers to make more informed decisions about the healthy purchasing of pre-packaged foods.

Consumers across the Caribbean Community are encouraged to participate in the Consumer Food Choice Survey, which can be accessed at: www.caribbeansurveys.com/consumer-food-choice/

The Project Steering Committee, comprising the Caricom Secretariat, the CPSO and CAHFSA, has announced that the survey will also be accessible on the websites and the social media pages of their respective institutions. The survey will be open from February 2-16, 2022. The study will be completed by the 28th February 2022.

The Caricom Private Sector Organization (CPSO) is the most recently accredited Associate Institution of the Caribbean Community.

The CPSO is to act as the “Apex” institution for the private sector in Caricom, with a mandate to contribute to the full implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME). The membership of the CPSO is comprised of private sector entities operating in the Caricom space, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).