Where do the products we eat come from? How are they made? What do they contain? What impact do they have on the planet? The importance of these questions grows day by day. In a study carried out in partnership with Netsonda – a national company and leader in online market research – A Padaria Portuguesa found that 75% of the Portuguese know little about what they are eating outside of the home.

This study, conducted in April 2022, is the result of 500 interviews with Portuguese people aged between 16 and 65 years, spread throughout the country, about their eating habits and what they know about their food.

There’s no doubt that we all prefer to eat quality products. But how do we define quality? Is it simply whatever tastes good? In addition to taste, we value knowledge. Knowing the origin, the ingredients and the manufacturing processes of what we eat. That’s why we wanted to survey the Portuguese.

Here are the main conclusions:

• 71% of the Portuguese want to know more about the products they consume;
• 81% want to have a healthier diet;
• 71% want to contribute towards more sustainable consumption;
• 73% want to consume better quality products.

At A Padaria Portuguesa we prefer ingredients and products of national origin, whenever possible. Furthermore, most of our products pass through the hands of our bakers and pastry chefs in the Marvila factory, to be kneaded, rolled, moulded or filled by hand.

• 2 in every 5 Portuguese do not know the origin of the ingredients of the products they consume, although 5 in every 6 consider it important that they are of national origin;
• 83% do not know how bakery and pastry products are made, although 83% prefer them to be handmade.

In relation to bread consumption, the study reveals that:

• The Portuguese eat, on average, five and a half bread rolls outside their homes every week – and 46% do not know what kind of flour their bread contains;
• 70% do not know what miller’s flours are and 81% do not know what their benefits are.

All the bread and cakes from A Padaria Portuguesa are made with miller’s flours, mainly from Paulino Horta’s mill in Alenquer. These flours, ground in stone mills, have more nutrients and aromas, substantially improving the quality of the bread.

The study concludes with regard to the consumption of coffee, Portugal’s favourite drink, that:

• The Portuguese drink, on average, around 8 cups of coffee per week – and 65% do not know the origin of that coffee;
• 66% do not know what organic coffee is and 73% do not know the benefits of this type of coffee.

A Padaria Portuguesa serves an exclusive blend of organic coffee – a mixture of beans from sustainable origins in Peru, Honduras, Congo and India, produced without the use of artificial fertilisers or pesticides.

There’s also an important, and unfortunately not very encouraging, conclusion to be considered:

• 84% of the Portuguese do not have precise knowledge of the impact on the environment of what they eat.

We are increasingly looking for our products to be produced in harmony with the planet, seeing waste as a valuable resource. This is the case with our vegetarian salad and sandwich, prepared with oyster mushrooms that are grown from the grounds of our organic coffee.

Do you know what you’re eating? Here, you’ll be glad to know.