16.07.2024
Study
According to forecasts, despite the crisis, health will remain more important than price
The cost-of-living crisis still plays an important role in influencing consumers, but personal health remains a top priority, according to the data.
According to analysts, in 2023, consumers will be more influenced by their personal health than by cost-effective food options.
However, according to research presented at a GlobalData webinar titled “Top Food Trends 2023,” shopping will still remain very price-conscious for consumers due to tight budgets and food inflation.
Starting in the second half of 2020, GlobalData’s mega-trend, dubbed “Health and Wellness,” remains the most influential trend shaping food purchases, ahead of “Easy and Affordable” and “Comfort and Uncertainty.”
“In the second half of the same year [2020], it became the third most important reason for influencing consumers’ purchase decisions, up from the first, and it stayed there until the last quarter for which we have data. I think that’s very, very important,” said Katie Page, GlobalData’s director of content covering consumer services, foodservice and packaging.
“It’s been driven in part by the pandemic, as you might expect, but even in the face of the financial crisis that we’re now starting to be exposed to, it still holds the top spot compared to the mega-trends of ‘easy and affordable’ which are in second place.”
Page again emphasized the importance of the health and wellness trend, as value can be expected to be a priority.
“Consumers are willing to prioritize ingredients that benefit their health, even during a cost-of-living crisis, indicating an ongoing concern for health in the wake of the pandemic,” she said.
“The demand for these ingredients from consumers shows a willingness to pay a higher price in exchange for health benefits.”
The post-pandemic period makes people more active in the hunt for health
Analysts have noticed a trend where consumers are making proactive health choices. In other words, after the pandemic, consumers are buying products to benefit their overall health, not for vanity or superficial gain.
“At the time [before the pandemic], the trends were very much around things like weight control. They may have been focused on fitness or very specific health needs,” Paige added.
“And I think the massive change that we’ve seen in the last few years is much more about proactive health. So, it’s much more about being healthy for yourself, just having a healthy body, being a healthy person so that you can, for example, deal with the risks of disease. It’s much less about superficial benefits, and much less about just targeting one or two individual health needs.”
According to GlobalData’s Q4 2022 consumer survey, approximately 35% of global consumers actively seek out products that impact their health when grocery shopping.
Value for money is still key – online food shopping continues to grow
Paige made it clear that the focus on personal health does not exclude the financial concerns that arise when consumers buy food. In a time when people are very conscious of their spending, it is inevitable that price and cost-effectiveness will matter.
She commented: “Consumers have smaller budgets, so they are even more ‘picky’. They are definitely checking the labels of the products they buy more carefully, and it’s all about value for money.”
“It’s not necessarily a race for the cheapest. When consumers are looking at things around them, it’s about how you [brands] can help them choose or make a better purchase choice that could really meet their specific needs and values.”
Due to tight budgets and rising food prices, many consumers’ shopping habits remain price-driven. These shoppers are trying to find the most cost-effective option, which often involves purchasing cheaper alternatives to their regular products and not maintaining brand loyalty, as well as switching to cheaper retailers.
According to GlobalData’s 2022 Q4 consumer survey, approximately 58% of consumers worldwide are buying groceries online more often than before.
“With digitization, consumers can have full access to the information they need to make a decision and position a product within their budget, and have convenient and immediate solutions to satisfy their purchases instantly,” Page argued.
“This is very important during the cost of living crisis as brands are experiencing an intensified competitive environment, making online presence and digital shopping experiences a significant resource for competitive advantage.”
Paige also said: “One important point we all had to learn from the pandemic was that our supply chains had some internal weaknesses. As part of that, we couldn’t move goods through the supply chain as fast as we needed to.”
“I’m thinking about tactics like dual sourcing. So having the same products made in multiple factories in multiple locations to reach more retail locations. Maybe that’s something that brands should look at.”
“Again, thinking about the whole online part, so you know, how can you be flexible, how can you make sure that consumers can somehow always get your brand, always get your product? You know, these are really big questions that I think the food industry has to think about in 2023.”