NEW YORK – The results of a Harris Poll of more than 2,000 adults age 18 and older taken in June of this year reveal a large majority of Americans (78 percent) love experiencing foods and flavors outside of their own culture.
The food Americans eat gives them the ability to delve into cultures that interest them. It’s an accessible means of fulfilling the desire for a multicultural experience. The poll found that about one quarter (26 percent) of adults in the US said it was at least very important to buy and consume foods containing multicultural flavors.
Millennials especially feel the need to eat multicultural flavors with 32 percent saying it was at least very important. Twenty-seven percent of both 35 to 44 year olds and 45 to 54 year olds said it was important. In the 55 to 64 and 65 and older age groups only 20 percent found it to be important.
Locally sourced ingredients still mean more to Americans than multicultural flavors when buying and consuming food. According to the Harris Poll, 36 percent of all American adults ranked locally sourced ingredients as very important, and 32 percent said the same about organic and natural ingredients. Twenty-six percent of those asked said multicultural flavors and purchasing from companies with a “strong social purpose” were equally important.
