Consumer Trends
Consumer trends, insights and preferences
Consumer Trends
Keeping up appearances
The point is that sometimes people want to be like—and liked by—others, and sometimes they want to be different. The topic relates to how health is being redefined.
Consumer Trends
What drives millennials’ food choices?
The NPD Group, a leading market research company, found in its recent National Eating Trends survey that members of the millennial generation, also known as Generation Y, have significantly decreased their rate of dining out. This age group also tends to base their food choices on impulse, price and time. Here are other findings from the NPD report.
U.S. retail sales of natural and organic foods and beverages in 2010 rose 9% over the previous year and 63% higher than sales five years earlier. The market reached a value of nearly $39 billion in sales in 2010, states research publisher Packaged Facts in its report titled Natural and Organic Foods and Beverages in the U.S., 3rd Edition.
Once considered a specific culinary style found only in select restaurants, Mediterranean cuisine with Greek, Spanish and Middle Eastern roots is showing up on the menus of national chain eateries. There is a growing consumer interest in Mediterranean cuisine specifically, as Americans become more health- conscious and seek simpler and fresher alternatives that spare the fat.
The star ratings on consumer-generated websites, such as Yelp! and Chowhound, carry a lot of weight, according to a survey by the Dining Decision Ecosystem. The survey, conducted with 500 participants, found that after a friend’s recommendation, the Internet holds the biggest influence with patrons deciding where to eat.
Americans no longer wait for one of the three main meals to eat; they love to snack—and they do so throughout the day. In fact, when asked as part of a study conducted by the Culinary Visions Panel in October, 2013, when they snack, none of the respondents said they simply don’t partake. Instead, the survey results show that snacking has turned into an all-day dining trend.