Eight years after the launch of Yuka in France, its impact on the food industry has been confirmed. According to an Ifop survey of 200 industry professionals, the app has become a real driver of product reformulation.
Julie Chapon, co-founder of Yuka, responds to the survey and explains what these results reveal about the sector’s profound evolution.
Question 1: The latest wave of the Ifop “Food Ingredients” barometer shows that 72% of French people are familiar with the Yuka application, and that 43% have already used it, making you the leading application for scanning information on the composition of food and hygiene/cosmetics products.
What was your objective in subscribing to the “mirror” section of this study, this time carried out among food industry professionals?
On a day-to-day basis, we see the impact of Yuka on brands. Every day, we receive messages from manufacturers who tell us they have reformulated their products, or who are looking to do so and want to understand how their future recipe will be evaluated in the application. We’ve even developed a dedicated simulator, enabling them to anticipate the rating of their products and identify precisely what makes them gain or lose points.
This feeling in the field is constant, but until now has not been quantified. Subscribing to the “mirror” part of the study seemed essential to us in order to put a clear figure on this impact, and to objectively measure the extent to which Yuka really influences product formulation. The study is a tangible demonstration, backed up by figures, of a transformation we observe every day: independent information is changing consumers’ decisions, and therefore the industry’s priorities.
Question 2: The study shows that 78% of manufacturers take their Yuka scores into account when (re)formulating their recipes, and that 96% have already reformulated some or most of their products over the last 5 years. What do you think this reveals about the changing balance of power between consumers and food manufacturers?
These results illustrate a profound change: the balance of power has shifted in favor of consumers. For years, the industry alone could decide on the composition of products, without anyone questioning it. Today, access to independent information gives consumers a real power of arbitration, and their choices are forcing brands to review their recipes.
Our impact study of 230,000 Yuka users in France shows this very clearly: 92% say they will put back on the shelf products rated red. When such behavior becomes widespread, manufacturers have no option but to adapt their products.
What the Ifop study reveals is that this citizen pressure is no longer marginal: it has become a structuring driving force in the transformation of the food industry. Consumers are setting the standards, and the industry is falling into line.
“The interpellation feature has shown that an informed consumer can really influence brand decisions.”
Julie Chapon
Co-founder Yuka
Question 3: With over a million appeals sent in 1 year to brands using high-risk additives, and a direct impact on their (re)formulations, Yuka has become a real lever for mobilization. What are the next steps for the application, and how do you intend to further strengthen your impact with consumers, and above all with manufacturers?
The interpellation function has shown that an informed consumer can really influence brand decisions. In the space of a year, over a million messages have been sent to manufacturers using high-risk additives, and 58% of them say they have eliminated, or are in the process of eliminating, these additives.
Initially, interpellation was only possible by email and on X, and the feature was launched in France and the United States. In view of its success, we have extended the channels to Instagram and LinkedIn, to offer even more possibilities for public interpellation. We also extended the functionality to Italy and Spain, to increase our impact and accelerate the transformation of industrial practices on a global scale.