Table of Contents
Overview
-
- What you need to know
- Definition
Executive Summary
-
- The issues
- Only minimal growth for center-store food as a whole
-
- Figure 1: MULO sales and fan chart forecast of center of the store, at current prices, 2011-21
- Young adults far less likely to shop center-store at supermarkets
-
- Figure 2: Grocery purchase locations – Primary store, by age, October 2016
- Center store trails perimeter on fresh, healthy, and tasty
-
- Figure 3: Grocery department associations – Healthy, authentic, fresh, tasty, October 2016
- The opportunities
- Center-store assets to be leveraged: time-saving, helpful, a good value
-
- Figure 4: Grocery department associations – Time-saving, a good value, helpful, October 2016
- Young adults more likely to break out of the routine
-
- Figure 5: Food shopping behaviors, by age, October 2016
- Young adults interested in improved shopping experience
-
- Figure 6: Interest in center-store concepts, by age, October 2016
- What it means
The Market – What You Need to Know
-
- Only minimal growth for center-store food as a whole
- Shelf-stable food sets pace for center-store overall
- Declines for meals/entrees cut into growth for frozen food
Market Size and Forecast
-
- Only minimal growth for center-store food as a whole
-
- Figure 7: MULO sales and fan chart forecast of center of the store, at current prices, 2011-21
- Figure 8: MULO sales and forecast of center of the store, at current prices, 2011-21
Market Breakdown
-
- Shelf stable outpaces frozen food
-
- Figure 9: MULO sales and forecast of center of the store, by segment, at current prices, 2011-21
-
- Figure 10: MULO sales and forecast of shelf stable foods, at current prices, 2011-21
- Frozen food
-
- Figure 11: MULO sales and forecast of frozen food, at current prices, 2011-21
Market Drivers
-
- Americans are trying to be healthier
-
- Figure 12: Attitudes toward food, by diet status, June 2016
- Younger generations reportedly shopping more
-
- Figure 13: US population by generation, 2016
- Growing Hispanic and Asian markets continue to influence grocery sector
-
- Figure 14: Generations, by race and Hispanic origin, 2016
Key Players – What You Need to Know
-
- Encouraging flavor exploration
- Facilitating healthier eating
- Enabling snacking
- Providing small indulgences
- Prepared meals fight processed image
- Cold cereal lacks convenience, satiety
- Shelf-stable vegetables overshadowed by fresh
What’s Working?
-
- Encouraging flavor exploration
-
- Figure 15: MULO sales of spices and seasonings, Mexican foods, and all other sauces, 2011-16
- Facilitating healthier eating
-
- Figure 16: MULO sales of rice, frozen fruit, and frozen seafood, 2011-16
- Enabling snacking
-
- Figure 17: MULO sales of snack nuts/seeds/corn nuts, salty snacks, snack bars/granola bars, and crackers, 2011-16
- Providing small indulgences
-
- Figure 18: MULO sales of chocolate candy, ice cream/sherbet, and cookies, 2011-16
What’s Struggling?
-
- Prepared meals fight processed image
- Cold cereal lacks convenience, satiety
- Shelf-stable vegetables overshadowed by fresh
-
- Figure 19: MULO sales of frozen dinners/entrees, frozen pizza, soup, vegetables, and cold cereal, 2011-16
What’s Next?
-
- Packaging innovation: greater transparency and functionality
- Power to the plants
- Making healthy and fresh faster
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
-
- Supermarkets still the top center-store channel
- Young adults far less likely to shop center-store at supermarkets
- Center store trails perimeter on fresh, healthy, and tasty
- Center-store assets to be leveraged: time-saving, helpful, a good value
- Young adults more likely to break out of the routine
- Young adults interested in improved shopping experience
- Natural/specialty shoppers critical of center-store but also see improvement
Grocery Purchase Locations
-
- Supermarkets still the top center-store channel
-
- Figure 20: Grocery purchase locations, October 2016
- Young adults far less likely to shop center-store at supermarkets
-
- Figure 21: Grocery purchase locations – Primary store, by age, October 2016
- Lower-income shoppers more likely to rely on mass, dollar channels
-
- Figure 22: Grocery purchase locations – Primary store, by household income, October 2016
- Hispanic, Asian shoppers less likely to rely on traditional supermarkets
-
- Figure 23: Grocery purchase locations – Primary store, by household income, October 2016
- In their words: overall shopping experience
Grocery Department Associations
-
- Methodology
- Center store trails perimeter on fresh, healthy, and tasty
- Center-store assets to be leveraged: time-saving, helpful, a good value
-
- Figure 24: Correspondence analysis – Grocery department associations, October 2016
- Figure 25: Grocery department associations, October 2016
- In their words: prioritizing health convenience and taste:
Food Shopping Behaviors
-
- Routine dominates center-store shopping
-
- Figure 26: Food shopping behaviors, October 2016
- Young adults more likely to break out of the routine
-
- Figure 27: Food shopping behaviors, October 2016
- In their words: shopping routines
Interest in Center-store Concepts
-
- Everyday low prices a priority over short-term promotions
-
- Figure 28: Interest in center-store concepts, October 2016
- Young adults more interested in improved shopping experience
-
- Figure 29: Interest in center-store concepts, by age, October 2016
- Natural/specialty shoppers more likely to look beyond price
-
- Figure 30: Interest in center-store concepts, by retail channel shopped most often for center-store items, October 2016
- In their words: reimagining the center-store experience
Attitudes toward Center Store
-
- Young adults focused on price but also likely to enjoy center-store shopping
-
- Figure 31: Attitudes toward center of the store – Any agree, by age, October 2016
- Natural/specialty shoppers critical of center-store but also see improvement
-
- Figure 32: Attitudes toward center of the store – Any agree, by age, by retail channel shopped most often for center-store items, October 2016
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
-
- Data sources
- Sales data
- Fan chart forecast
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Appendix – Market
-
-
- Figure 33: Total US sales and forecast of market, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2011-21
- Figure 34: MULO sales of top edible grocery categories, 2011-16
- Figure 35: MULO sales of top frozen food categories, 2011-16
- Figure 36: Population by race and Hispanic origin, 2011-21
-
Back to top
