Joanna Cosgrove06.13.11
According to a recent report from Datamonitor, the ongoing effects of the recession continue to influence how consumers perceive food and beverage brands and—most importantly—how they choose to spend their money. The report, titled "Food and Beverage Consumer Trends in the US: Winning Strategies in a New Decade," delved into a variety of issues related to purchasing attitudes and behaviors, highlighting a changing demographic population and a consumer base whose stated attitudes are not always manifested in actual buying behavior.
For starters Datamonitor found the U.S. organic market has continued to survive the recession “relatively unscathed…showing that even in times of reduced financial wellbeing, some consumers continue to attach importance to the ethical credentials of products.”
About one in five U.S. shoppers said they regularly purchased organic groceries, but just because consumers attach importance to organic products doesn’t mean they’re willing to trade up and spend more to have them. Only three out of 10 U.S. consumers believe organic groceries to be more nutritional than standard food and drink. For those who stated they were willing to trade up, the majority were only willing to pay a premium of up to 5%. To encourage consumers to purchase organic, the report advised purveyors of organic products to focus more heavily on the “extrasensory benefits of organic groceries.” Pumping up impressions related to freshness and higher quality can boost consumer perceptions, the report said.
Interest in locally-produced foods and beverages has experienced and uptick among consumers, with six out of 10 attaching importance to buying local groceries. In 2010 a Datamonitor Consumer Survey found three in 10 consumers (most commonly in the 25–34 age bracket) regularly sought to purchase locally produced groceries—this figure represented an increase from a similar 2009 data collection. Datamonitor asserted that these numbers reflected that “consumers are becoming more attentive to the food types that they buy, checking labeling to see where groceries and ingredients are sourced from, which can enhance appeal by providing feelings of supporting the local area or allay any potential safety concerns associated with imported groceries.”
At-Retail Doubts
Increasingly, time-crunched consumers are making a more concerted effort to cook from scratch, citing doubts about the nutritional value of ready-made meal items. That trend has ongoing implications for the retail sector, as documented in a 2009/2010 Datamonitor Consumer Tracker Survey, which showed that a total of 38% and 37% of respondents in the U.S. wanted “to cut spend on chilled and frozen ready meals, compared to the 29% and 27% who want to cut spend[ing] respectively on core groceries like rice and pasta and fresh fruit and vegetables.”
And speaking of grocery shopping, the recent Datamonitor study revealed that sometimes too much of a good thing really is, well, not a good thing.
While a high proportion of consumers affirmed that the range of products at the grocery story had a significant influence on their choice of shopping channel selected, the 2010 Datamonitor Consumer Survey shows that three in 10 shoppers either “tend to” (23%) or “strongly” (7%) agree that there is too much choice when grocery shopping. The report surmised that the surplus of choice available on shelves effectively turned the simple act of buying a grocery product into a task of comparing a myriad of products based on factors such as health claims and price points.
“Consumers are looking to simplify the grocery shopping process, looking to stick to tried and trusted brands and avoiding browsing through the clutter of products on shelves,” the report explained. “Feelings of choice overload can have an impact on attentiveness to new product launches, the 2008 Datamonitor Consumer Survey indicates, particularly in the beverage categories. Indeed, the survey found that 22% of U.S. respondents do not notice new food products stocked in supermarkets, 50% are not aware of new non-alcoholic beverage launches, and 72% are oblivious to new launches in the alcoholic beverage category.”
Consumers who are burdened by what they perceive to be an overabundance of products stocked in supermarkets are likely to be less attentive to new product launches. Datamonitor advised manufacturers to “go to greater lengths to draw the attention of consumers, such as standout packaging features or encouraging retailers to engage in effective point-of-sale promotions.”
For starters Datamonitor found the U.S. organic market has continued to survive the recession “relatively unscathed…showing that even in times of reduced financial wellbeing, some consumers continue to attach importance to the ethical credentials of products.”
About one in five U.S. shoppers said they regularly purchased organic groceries, but just because consumers attach importance to organic products doesn’t mean they’re willing to trade up and spend more to have them. Only three out of 10 U.S. consumers believe organic groceries to be more nutritional than standard food and drink. For those who stated they were willing to trade up, the majority were only willing to pay a premium of up to 5%. To encourage consumers to purchase organic, the report advised purveyors of organic products to focus more heavily on the “extrasensory benefits of organic groceries.” Pumping up impressions related to freshness and higher quality can boost consumer perceptions, the report said.
Interest in locally-produced foods and beverages has experienced and uptick among consumers, with six out of 10 attaching importance to buying local groceries. In 2010 a Datamonitor Consumer Survey found three in 10 consumers (most commonly in the 25–34 age bracket) regularly sought to purchase locally produced groceries—this figure represented an increase from a similar 2009 data collection. Datamonitor asserted that these numbers reflected that “consumers are becoming more attentive to the food types that they buy, checking labeling to see where groceries and ingredients are sourced from, which can enhance appeal by providing feelings of supporting the local area or allay any potential safety concerns associated with imported groceries.”
At-Retail Doubts
Increasingly, time-crunched consumers are making a more concerted effort to cook from scratch, citing doubts about the nutritional value of ready-made meal items. That trend has ongoing implications for the retail sector, as documented in a 2009/2010 Datamonitor Consumer Tracker Survey, which showed that a total of 38% and 37% of respondents in the U.S. wanted “to cut spend on chilled and frozen ready meals, compared to the 29% and 27% who want to cut spend[ing] respectively on core groceries like rice and pasta and fresh fruit and vegetables.”
And speaking of grocery shopping, the recent Datamonitor study revealed that sometimes too much of a good thing really is, well, not a good thing.
While a high proportion of consumers affirmed that the range of products at the grocery story had a significant influence on their choice of shopping channel selected, the 2010 Datamonitor Consumer Survey shows that three in 10 shoppers either “tend to” (23%) or “strongly” (7%) agree that there is too much choice when grocery shopping. The report surmised that the surplus of choice available on shelves effectively turned the simple act of buying a grocery product into a task of comparing a myriad of products based on factors such as health claims and price points.
“Consumers are looking to simplify the grocery shopping process, looking to stick to tried and trusted brands and avoiding browsing through the clutter of products on shelves,” the report explained. “Feelings of choice overload can have an impact on attentiveness to new product launches, the 2008 Datamonitor Consumer Survey indicates, particularly in the beverage categories. Indeed, the survey found that 22% of U.S. respondents do not notice new food products stocked in supermarkets, 50% are not aware of new non-alcoholic beverage launches, and 72% are oblivious to new launches in the alcoholic beverage category.”
Consumers who are burdened by what they perceive to be an overabundance of products stocked in supermarkets are likely to be less attentive to new product launches. Datamonitor advised manufacturers to “go to greater lengths to draw the attention of consumers, such as standout packaging features or encouraging retailers to engage in effective point-of-sale promotions.”
