Our latest Tracker Survey is focussed on the shifts in behaviour around food and drink that may stick after lock-down.
What we found is not surprising: changing behaviour is often shaped by our life-stage. Those with a houseful of dependents are spending an increasing amount of time planning, shopping, and cooking but this could well be seen as a chore. They may be cooking more from scratch but what they want are healthy, child-friendly snacks, convenient short-cuts, easy family friendly recipes, and maximum affordability. The stresses of home schooling have perhaps also been a contributory factor in the increase in wine/spirit drinking.
For those with no parental responsibilities, lockdown has bought more time in the kitchen, but this has not always translated into key shifts in cooking habits. While our older participants were the least likely to acknowledge any change in their behaviour at all, the pre-family group were the most likely to register change – experimenting with new flavours, home baking and checking the nutritional value of food.
It is true that many of our lockdown intentions may go the same way as our new year resolutions, but it is education that instigates lasting change and this interruption of our fast-paced lives may well leave a lasting impression on the next generation of parents. That, coupled with the Government’s planned strategy to wage a war on fat, means that NPD teams will have the added challenge of making healthy foods tastier.
For many years we saw a rise in convenience products and food-to-go, but Taste, Value and Health look like being the key ingredients for a successful new product in the post pandemic world.
Look out our next Infographic about the changes in our drinking habits during lock-down.
