New research has shown that consumers are increasingly flexible over meal times and prefer to sue their own judgement on what is healthy rather than following official advice.
The latest Waitrose Food and Drink Report also found that older consumers are more likely to experiment with food choices than the younger generation. Its survey showed 84% of over-55s claim they eat healthily, compared to 67% of 18- to 24-year-olds with the older generation much more likely to try a ‘raw food’ diet than teenagers. Retired people in Waitrose’s focus groups said they love experimenting, which the report puts down to having grown up in an era that lacked abundance.
The report shows that consumers are increasingly turning their backs on traditional rules governing where and when they eat, with 15% of those who have a dining room saying they use it less now than they did five years ago. Flexibility and informality are becoming key trends, the report says, with the on-trade benefitting from the trend. Waitrose said grazing options in its stores have soared, with a 23% increase in sales of food from in-store wine bars, juice bars and bakeries.
The report found 80% of consumers do not like to be told what is healthy. Instead, they are becoming their own experts, researching diets to suit their lifestyle.
It showed that 60% of people have set themselves health rules this year. Of these, a third are looking to cut down on sugar – by far the most popular way to manage health – a quarter have committed to not drinking alcohol during the week, and 18% are limiting their intake of carbohydrates.
The Waitrose report also highlights key food and drink products that are proving especially popular with shoppers at the moment. These include avocadoes, sales of which are up 24% year on year by value, and cauliflower, which is increasingly being used as a substitute for rice and even pizza bases.
The report further highlights how choice is starting to overwhelm shoppers. Waitrose MD Mark Price said: “We can watch any TV show or listen to any song that we want to at the touch of a button. We can buy anything online 24/7. We eat more ‘on the go’. And, due to social media, emails and texts, we can connect with friends and family every waking minute. Today, we are constantly ‘on’.”
This had left two-thirds of people saying they feel overwhelmed by the choice available, Price added in his foreword to the report. “People are setting their own definable parameters for living,” he said. “It is their way of navigating this sea of unlimited choice.”
