Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- What consumers want and why
- The issues
- Consumers don’t like eating at retailers
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- Figure 1: Prepared food attitudes – NET agreement, October 2019
- Rotisserie chicken is falling from favor
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- Figure 1: Prepared food and beverage item purchases, October 2019
- Packaged foods pose a threat
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- Figure 3: Prepared food attitudes – NET any agree, by prepared food user groups, October 2019
- The opportunities
- Prepared foods purchases are growing
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- Figure 3: Prepared food purchase frequency – NET prepared food user groups and any purchase, October 2018-2019
- Off-premise business represents a huge opportunity
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- Figure 1: Prepared food attitudes – NET agreement, October 2019
- Young consumers want to see more beverage concepts at retailers
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- Figure 2: Prepared food concept interest, by generation, October 2019
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Convenience stores bring their A game
- Move over meal kits, new retail threats emerge
- Quickly growing demographics indicate positive prepared foods future
Market Perspective
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- C-stores jump on health and wellness trends
- Next-level convenience in retail
Market Factors
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- Away-from-home sales outpace at-home sales
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- Figure 1: Share food expenditures for in-home food vs dining out, 2013-18
- Asian and Hispanic populations are quickly growing
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- Figure 9: Population by race and Hispanic origin, 2014-24
- Urbanization persists
Key Trends – What You Need to Know
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- LSRs thrive, FSRs strive
- Love for the local
- Grocerants adopt restaurant tech
What’s Working?
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- Prepared foods cater to convenience
- Local goes a long way
- Beverage concepts proliferate
- What’s next?
- What’s next?
- Special diet
What’s Struggling?
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- Grocery store full-service restaurants and bars
- Freshness perceptions at traditional grocers
What’s Next?
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- Next-level restaurant and retail blurring
- Hyperlocal ingredients
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Prepared foods business is booming
- Convenience is top motivator for prepared foods purchases
- Packaged foods represent growing threat
Prepared Food Purchase Frequency
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- Prepared food purchases and purchase frequency are up from 2018
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- Figure 17: Prepared food purchase frequency – NET prepared food user groups and any purchase, October 2018-2019
- City dwellers propel prepared food sales
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- Figure 9: Prepared food user groups, by location, October 2019
- Men drive prepared food business
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- Figure 6: Prepared food user groups, by gender, October 2019
- Millennials in particular drive prepared food growth
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- Figure 7: Prepared food user groups, by generation, October 2019
- Asian and Hispanic consumers are heaviest users of prepared foods
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- Figure 8: Prepared food user groups, by race and Hispanic origin, October 2019
Prepared Food Purchase Location
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- Supermarkets are losing share of prepared food purchases year over year
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- Figure 10: Prepared food purchase location, October 2018-2019
- Younger consumers are sourcing prepared foods from a wider variety of locations
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- Figure 11: Prepared food purchase location, by generation, October 2019
Year-Over-Year Change in Prepared Food Purchases
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- Consumers confirm that they’re buying prepared foods more frequently year over year
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- Figure 5: Year-over-year change in prepared food purchases, October 2018-2019
- Younger Millennials are most likely to report buying prepared foods more often year over year
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- Figure 13: Year-over-year change in prepared food purchases, by generation, October 2019
- Convenience drives prepared food purchases
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- Figure 6: Prepared food purchase motivators, October 2019
- The more money consumers earn, the more likely they are to enjoy dining at grocery stores
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- Figure 15: Prepared food purchase motivators, by income, October 2019
- Cost and health are top barriers to prepared food purchases
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- Figure 7: Prepared food purchase barriers, October 2019
Prepared Food and Beverage Item Purchases
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- Most prepared food consumers purchase rotisserie chicken, freshly baked goods
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- Figure 18: Prepared food and beverage item purchases – NET any chicken, any beverage, October 2019
- Gen Z is more engaged with fried than rotisserie chicken
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- Figure 19: Prepared food and beverage item purchases, by generation, October 2019
- Lower- and middle-income consumers are equally engaged with fried and rotisserie chicken
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- Figure 20: Prepared food and beverage item purchases – NET any beverage, by income, October 2019
- Prepared beverages and sandwiches are top-of-mind for convenience
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- Figure 16: Prepared food and beverage item purchases – NET any chicken, any beverage, by prepared food purchase location, October 2019
Prepared Food Competitive Associations
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- Grocery stores need to improve prepared food consistency and family friendliness to compete more with restaurants
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- Figure 20: Correspondence Analysis – Symmetrical map – Retail and foodservice blurring, October 2019
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- Figure 21: Prepared food competitive associations, October 2019
Prepared Food Concept Interest
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- Consumers prefer prepared beverage stations to restaurants at grocery stores
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- Figure 22: Prepared food concept interest – NET any rank, October 2019
- Young consumers drive demand for prepared beverage concepts
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- Figure 23: Prepared food concept interest – NET any rank, by generation, October 2019
- Lower-income consumers drive demand for prepared beverage and restaurant concepts at grocery stores
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- Figure 24: Prepared food concept interest – NET any rank, by income, October 2019
Prepared Food Attitudes
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- Free wi-fi can encourage prepared food consumers to dine inside grocery stores
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- Figure 25: Prepared food attitudes – NET agreement, October 2019
- CPG is greater threat to prepared foods among core male customer base
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- Figure 27: Prepared food attitudes – NET any agree, by gender, October 2019
- Young consumers drive demand for prepared food online ordering and delivery
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- Figure 26: Prepared food attitudes – NET any agree, by generation, October 2019
- Hispanic prepared food consumers drive growth of off-premise prepared food business
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- Figure 28: Prepared food attitudes – NET any agree, by race and Hispanic origin, October 2019
- Heavy Users of prepared food want more convenient off-premise options
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- Figure 25: Prepared food attitudes – NET any agree, by prepared food user groups, October 2019
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
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- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Direct marketing creative
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Appendix – The Consumer
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- Figure 36: Households with own children under age 18, by age of householder, 2018
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- Figure 28: Prepared food attitudes, by stores visited for prepared foods, October 2019
- Correspondence Analysis Methodology
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