Packaged Facts: Plant-Based Meat Consumption Moving from Niche to Norm

Nearly one-fourth of U.S. consumers report eating plant-based meat, poultry, or seafood products, revealing that plant-based products are going mainstream and are no longer niche, according to market research firm Packaged Facts.

"Packaged Facts' August 2020 National Online Consumer Survey found that 23% of consumers claim to eat any variety of plant-based meat products," says Jennifer Mapes-Christ, Packaged Facts' food and beverage publisher. "There are opportunities to target this burgeoning minority of consumers, who may be persuaded to use larger volumes of plant-based meat in their diets...

Packaged Facts: Plant-Based Prepared Meals are Ripe with Opportunity 

According to Packaged Facts, marketers of plant-based meat products should focus on convenience when marketing to consumers, as regular consumers of plant-based meat and people who have not really eaten these products are more likely to look for prepared meal options when strapped for time.

"A top reason that consumers cite for buying any type of prepared meals is time savings. Incorporating plant-based meat into prepared foods is the ultimate convenience since consumers can have a complete meal at home or at a workplace with little effort," says Jennifer Mapes-Christ, Packaged Facts' food and beverage publisher.

Some small companies that make plant-based meat are focusing on prepared meals in addition to plant-based meat analogues that have to be cooked by the end user and added to...

Coronavirus Changing Eating Habits of Vegan, Vegetarian, and Flexitarian U.S. Consumers

The majority of U.S. consumers report eating more comfort foods, snacks, and treats because of the coronavirus, reports market research firm Packaged Facts in a new study. Some consumers are eating more healthily and more locally produced foods, while a smaller portion are eating less healthily, less fresh produce, and more processed foods.

"The coronavirus has had an impact on consumer eating habits, with some tending toward less healthy foods, while others are experiencing the opposite and hunkering down with healthier foods," says Jennifer Mapes-Christ, food and beverage publisher for Packaged Facts.

Vegans, who already tend to think they eat a healthy diet, are most likely to report eating...

Coronavirus Revitalizes Shrinking Retail Center Store Products and Frozen Foods

The coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. has revitalized sales in the center of retail stores, home of shelf-stable and frozen foods that have generally been experiencing declining or slow sales growth over a number of years, reports market research firm Packaged Facts in the report U.S. Food Market Outlook 2020: Home Cooking, Grocery Shopping, & Food Trends in the Age of Coronavirus.

Previously, consumer's increasing desire for fresh unprocessed, healthier foods—found in store sections such as produce, meat and poultry, seafood, dairy, and deli and bakery—has been the main driver for the center store decline...

Uber Sees Doubling in UberEats Operations as Ride Hailing Business Stays Low

On August 6, Uber Technologies Incorporated (San Francisco, CA) announced its quarterly earnings results. The company's UberEats unit remains the bright spot for the company, seeing revenue doubled to $1.2 billion as Americans continue to stay at home despite changes in restaurant operation across various states since April. This is in contrast to the ongoing sharp declines in the company's flagship ride-hailing unit as fewer riders and drivers in the US returned to the platform despite improvements in other countries where coronavirus effects are currently more muted...

Food and Beverage E-Commerce Sales Growing Rapidly but Still Small

Even prior to the coronavirus pandemic, online sales of food and beverages in the U.S. have been growing rapidly and totaled about $17 billion in 2018. They are forecast to increase 32% per year through 2023, according to Packaged Facts in the report U.S. Beverage Market Outlook 2020: Grocery Shopping & Personal Consumption in the Coronavirus Era.

Yet, while e-commerce sales are growing rapidly, they still represent a very small percentage—about 4%—of total food and beverage sales.

The impact of online sales varies by food category, ranging from less than 1% to 3% of sales. Coffee and tea sell the best, while dairy and juices...

U.S. Foodservice Revenues to Decline 25% from 2019, But are Expected to Rebound by 2024

Although full-service restaurants have slowly been losing share of restaurant spending to less expensive and more convenient fast food and fast casual restaurants, they still made up the largest share of revenues from eating and drinking places in 2019, according to Food Carryout & Delivery, a recently published report market research firm Packaged Facts.

As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the nation in 2020, foodservice revenues are forecast to decline more than 25% from 2019 as dine-in service shuts down amid decreased consumer spending on restaurants as people stay at home and cook more even as some states slowly begin reopening. Revenues will...

Packaged Facts: Global Meat Consumption On the Rise

While meat-eaters are increasingly trying plant-based protein options, meat consumption worldwide is expected to increase 1.4% per year through 2023, according to data published in the new Packaged Facts report Global Meat & Poultry Trends.

Meat and poultry consumption in the U.S. is expected to increase less than 1.0% per year through 2023, but greater gains are projected in other parts of the world. Most notably, nations in Africa and the Middle East are forecast to register the fastest increases in meat consumption, as rising living standards and income levels allow more people to incorporate meat into their regular diet.

"In many parts of the world, meat is among the least affordable food options. It is generally pricier than locally available grains, beans, vegetables, and fruit. However, as average incomes rise, more people to eat meat, first as...

Gen Z and Millennial Consumers Naturally Favor Organic Foods and Beverages

The prevailing demographic of organic consumers skews in two directions. Most obvious are consumers who are upscale (including higher educational attainment and household income). Less obvious are younger adult consumers of the Gen Z (ages 18-24) and Millennial (ages 25-39) generations, reveals Packaged Facts in the new market research study Eating Trends: Generational Food, the final report in a five-part Eating Trends anthology.

“Millennials and younger members of Generation X tend to be the biggest users of organic foods, and much more likely than average to agree that they especially look for...

Packaged Facts: Affluent Consumers Favor Fresh, Local, and Simple Food Brands

The 42 million affluent food shoppers with household incomes of $150,000 or more exercise an outsize influence on the U.S. food industry, reports Affluent Food Shoppers, a market research report by Packaged Facts. Where affluent consumers grocery shop, how they grocery shop, and which food and beverage products and brands they purchase cause them to have a disproportionate impact on the bottom line of brick-and-mortar supermarkets and grocery stores.

When it comes to brand preference, many brands that are popular among affluent food shoppers share certain specific characteristics. Natural and organic brands garner much of the attention, but...

Restaurant Gift Card Use Trends Up

Gift card season is officially upon us. And though the majority of Winter holiday shoppers are focused on gift cards for top retailers, it’s important not to overlook the growing use of gift cards to popular restaurants and coffeehouses.

In the recent report Eating Trends: Restaurant Use, Packaged Facts states that between 2011 and 2019, the share of adults who buy gift cards overall has declined by five percentage points, to 39%. However, purchase of gift cards specifically for restaurants or coffeehouses is up by three percentage points, to 20%. Usage has steadily increased each year since 2011. As a result, growth in use of restaurant gift cards, much like growth in the use of restaurant coupons, is...