YouGov Data: How We Eat Now (and Where)

Thereamp8217s no talking about Thanksgiving without talking about food Even with virtual family gatherings Google searches for Thanksgiving recipes have only declined less than a third from prior years It seems an appropriate time to look at how our eating habits have changed this year due to COVIDHere are some changes in our eating behaviors and trends to nibble on Bon AppetitWe Have Conflicted Feelings About Dining OutAs a whole Americans remain ambivalent about going into public spaces Where do food and beverage service establishments sit About half of consumers are comfortable going to a restaurant while the other half are not This is similar to our comfortdiscomfort with going to clothing stores and hairdressers Weamp8217re more leery of bars with only one in five saying theyamp8217re comfortable going to one although this almost doubles for outdoor bars a level of overall discomfort we also see for gyms airports and live events like sports music events and festivalsIf onpremise consumption is key to your brandamp8217s business communicating comfort and safety will be key to getting consumers back as things reopen but it must be handled delicately sometimes pointing out the problem weamp8217re solving just ends up drawing more attention to the problemWeamp8217re Eating More Meals at HomeCOVID has radically changed where many of us eat Gone are the days of constant onthego meals and frequent dining out at least for now Restrictions on restaurant dining combined with overall skepticism about safety in public places have created a massive shift from onpremise to athome diningWhen it comes to other ways to get our meals drive thru takeout delivery itamp8217s a bit of a tale of two households We see equal shifting of consumers using drive thru less often logical with fewer commuters as well as using it more often presumably replacing what were formerly meals eaten at a restaurant We see similar patterns for takeout and delivery mealsDigging in further we see a large upswing in eating at home and a decline in dining out across all age groups but Gen Z has increased their net usage of drive thru takeout and delivery For other generations the increases and decreases more or less balance each other outIn an interesting twist foodies are less likely to be heading back into restaurants 71 dine out less often now vs 51 among total but they are more likely to be making efforts to support establishments through takeout 43 get takeout more often than before vs 25 totalStocking Up the PantryI talked last week about changes in shopping behavior and one place weamp8217re spending a lot more on groceries both instore and online What weamp8217re buying at the grocery store is changing too All this cooking at home when combined with a desire to limit shopping trips and perhaps a bit of anxiety about product shortages has increased purchases of frozen and canned foods Three in ten consumers are purchasing frozen and canned foods more often than beforeFrozen and canned food purchases increased more among younger consumers Gen Z and Millennials who had a lower baseline frequency of cooking at home and using frozen and canned foods We also see a bigger increase specifically for canned fruits and vegetables among parents of kids under 18 who are getting creative in providing healthy foods while being timestrapped between overseeing remotelearning and continuing to work their own jobsIf we learn anything from how we eat now itamp8217s that athome is the most important experience right nowAs marketers we should be asking ourselves How can my products enhance the athome experience How is my messaging speaking to my consumeramp8217s current lifestyle as well as the one they want to return to without rubbing salt in the wound about things they canamp8217t responsibly have right now Am I offering multiple ways to shop my products Am I learning which of my customers want things delivered vs want to get out of the house to pick something up Am I providing ideas on how to use my products differently Even experiences with my kids or friends over Zoom at a safe distance of courseItamp8217s a challenging time for many categories but uptodate data is available and helps a lot Contact me if youamp8217re interested in seeing this data and more broken out for your specific target audiences brands etc Iamp8217m here to strategize and help Send your request herePhoto courtesy of Tamara AlesiClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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YouGov Data: How We Eat Now (and Where)

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Tamara Alesi

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YouGov Data: How We Eat Now (and Where)

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