KANSAS CITY — How well do consumers trust your company and your brand? The same or less than other companies? Higher than most?

During the recent Center for Food Integrity’s (CFI) 2023 Transparency Summit, experts from Deloitte shared a survey that revealed business-to-consumer companies overestimate trust by more than 50%. Building trust in business has become an increasingly important intangible for ensuring a company’s success in today’s complex, often-misunderstood food industry. It’s one of the most valuable drivers for why consumers repeatedly choose one brand over others.

“We’ve been working on the issue of trust for the past 15 to 20 years, and one of the things we’ve learned over time is the single greatest thing we can do today to increase trust is to increase transparency,” noted Charlie Arnot, chief executive officer of the CFI.

Most executives agree that transparency and building consumer trust go hand-in-hand, but Mr. Arnot said the journey isn’t easy. What does it mean to be transparent? What information does a business share? Will being transparent put the company at a competitive disadvantage?

During the summit, executives from retailers, food companies, ingredient suppliers and even farmers offered suggestions on how companies can start to enhance their transparency with consumers. The CFI has developed a research-based model and other tools for assessing and developing trust in today’s food system and fostering transparency in areas like sustainability, health and wellness, food security and innovation.