With the impact of the war in Ukraine, pre-existing supply chain challenges and limited effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy and the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic the cost of food items is rising. This summer, the cost of essential food items is likely to peak at up to 15%1 – the highest figure in 20 years.
Speciality Food Magazine has investigated the ‘Four ways consumer shopping behaviour has changed in the cost-of-living crisis’.
As people start to feel the pinch, with three quarters of Britons2 concerned over the rising cost of food, they’ve changed how they shop.
People are shopping more frequently but putting less in their baskets – they’re buying what they need, rather than a large weekly shop. People are also shopping more locally to avoid using fuel with it reaching a record high of almost £2 per litre3. Fuel price rises have also meant that consumers are less likely to eat out at restaurants – this providing an opportunity for premium ready meals and recipe solutions.
Organic and healthy food are taking a hit, with the number of adults preferring them falling by almost a third4. People are buying what they can afford as finances are tightening. 82%5 of consumers are cutting back on buying non-essential products, and along with this, three in five of surveyed consumers are reducing their takeaway spend. In an effort to reduce the cost of their shopping baskets, 35%6 of shoppers are cutting down on meat, or even removing it from their diet altogether, with 53%7 interested in trying a plant-based diet if reduces the shopping bill.
1 Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD); https://www.igd.com/
2 https://www.vegansociety.com/take-action/campaigns/live-vegan-less
3 frightening
4 https://ipa.co.uk/
5 https://www.braze.com/resources/articles/uk-consumers-to-cut-back-on-takeaways-and-clothing-as-cost-of-living-rises
6 https://www.vegansociety.com/ 7 https://www.vegansociety.com/