A new survey by Deloitte reveals that 68% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for fresh food, Supermarket News reports. 

Although at least 80% of consumers and grocers think food suppliers raised prices more than necessary to increase their profits, popularity is on the rise as consumers believe in the health benefits of fresh food.

Both consumers (30%) and grocers (36%) agree that the fresh department is where environmental, social, and governance (ESG) claims matter the most. ESG is expected to have an impact on fresh food category growth, as some consumers place a premium on authentic and defendable sustainable food claims and knowing where their fresh food is sourced.

Grocers rank highest among retail formats for trust. Deloitte also looked at how personalized experiences, embracing responsibility, or using fresh food as medicine all require high levels of consumer trust to be realized.

Trust in the grocery store (37%) is more important to consumers surveyed than trust in food brands (30%) or government regulators (24%). Thirty-eight percent of consumers are willing to share some of their personal health information with their grocer to get personalized food recommendations, and 46% would likely use a grocer’s app to make healthier food choices. Thus, eight-in-10 grocery retailers are investing in digital functionality for this reason.

Conducted in July, this Deloitte report is based on a survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers, as well as 100 U.S.-based grocery retail executives from organizations with over 10,000 employees, and examines the current state of the fresh food industry.