Following on from our bi-weekly questionnaires on shopping and eating behaviour during Covid-19 we worked with our partners MyInsightsOnTime to drill into and gather in-depth insights into the topic of food trends.
There is no doubt that trends in food, grocery shopping and cooking at home are changing. But what did our panel of women have to tell us?
Read on to discover 5 Food Trends That Are Influencing Women Buyers and to download our free insights report based on our quantitative and qualitative surveys of more than 1,100 consumers*.
5 Key Food Trends Stats
Key stats for 5 key Food Trends:
1. Buying Irish and Local: 63% declared a tendency to seek out products from Irish businesses while shopping.
2. Food Waste: 44% are producing less food waste at home by buying just what they need.
3. Home Cooking: 67% are researching recipe ideas online
4. Frozen Foods: 31% reported increased consumption of frozen foods with potato product leading the trend.
5. Snacking: 62% of people are snacking more than usual
Online Focus Group Insights
An Online Focus Group was carried out on the MyInsightsOnTime private platform in May 2020 with 30 women panel participants from across Ireland.
Here are some of the key insights and feedback:
Buying Irish and Local
“I’m definitely making an effort to buy local and support local businesses. I’m supporting neighbourhood food and local honesty shop. I’m watching labels more in the supermarket and trying to buy all Irish foods. I’ll definitely try to continue this as after lockdown and have a newfound respect and value for local producers.”
Food Waste
“I think our food waste for 1 week increased as I did a clear out of presses etc. However apart from that week it has decreased. I find we are wasting less fruit, salad and turkey/ham slices. Plus with no school lunches we aren’t getting back half eaten sandwiches or mushy bananas etc.”
Home Cooking
“I find as we are shopping less often I need to be more prepared. We are definitely trying new things as I’ve more time at home! I’ve also noticed a lot less waste in the house as I’m much more conscious of planning based on what we have in our press or fridge. Lots more fresh meals!”
Frozen Food
“When lockdown started, I stockpiled on frozen food that I’m trying to use up now. I am trying to cook more food in batches and I think I will try to continue to cook in batches from now on. I just keep forgetting that things in the freezer have an expiry date, although ice cream and pizzas will never be left in there too long!”
Snacking
“I thought I wasn’t snacking too much…. I was delusional! Got on the scales and frightened the life out of myself. So, much healthier snacks and food in this week’s shop.”
Key Recommendations for Brands and Businesses
– Women want high quality useful content on brand websites. How can you create this for them?
– Encourage customers to give reviews of your product or service online, ask staff what feedback they are getting, talk to customers/encourage dialogue. If you implement a suggestion, attribute it so customers can see that you listen and value their input.
– Think about any little things you could add to your service or product delivery that would impress and delight customers.
Download This Month’s Free Insights Report
For more stats and insights into what food trends are influencing women, download this month’s free Insights report on 5 Key Food Trends That Are Influencing Women Buyers.
In the report you’ll get in-depth survey stats, drill-down insights and recommendations.
*4 online questionnaires composed of 24 questions were distributed by Innovate Solutions to consumers around Ireland, bi-weekly, over an 8 week period. The first survey was conducted w/c 16th March 2020. Each survey was active for a week and the total number of overall responses was 2,435, gathered from a panel of 1,100 consumers.