While food and recipe apps aren’t always atop the most-popluar apps list – that title most often belongs to games – they are some of the most logical lifestyle applications for mobile media. What could be more helpful than being able to access a forgotten recipe while shopping the grocery store for its ingredients?

Kraft, Food Network Canada, Jamie Oliver and Conde Nast-owned Epicurious all call the App Store home these days, but do people automatically think mobile when they’re standing at the deli counter?

A new survey from global research firm Latitude indicates that there is an appetite – no pun intended, natch – for such mobile media. The study asked 100 participants to describe at what point during their food shopping they would like more info, and how they would prefer to get it, finding that 30% suggested a mobile phone solution while 43% specifically suggested a smartphone app. Sixteen percent said barcode-scanning tech would also be useful for finding out more information about a certain product.

Fifty-six percent said they would like more information on nutritional information, food origins, organic vs. non-organic, farming practices, food safety or ingredient details and 31% said they’d seek data such as location in store, price and inventory.

‘This now-mainstream desire to access relevant information at the exact moment it matters most has far-ranging implications for brands and retailers – implications which they’ve only just begun to explore,’ Neela Sakaria, VP, Latitude, said in a release.

‘Study participants intuitively understood how real-time technology can improve purchasing decisions, which presents a growing opportunity for both retailers and brands to build positive relationships with customers.’