Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Supermarkets and Food Trends During Covid-19

 It's been 7 months since Covid-19 changed our lives.  Even those who didn't go to the supermarket pre covid seem to want to go now.  It's something to do.  I know many families that go together.  It's an outing!

Prices have gone up, that's for sure.  Our shopping trips are also more expensive because we are eating almost all our meals at home.  We are cooking more complicated meals, and baking too.  Many shoppers have built or stocked bomb shelter pantries.  Did you try to buy toilet paper in March or April?  For months, most grocery stores were void of pasta, flour, yeast, soup and much, much more.

We have been in a nostalgia phase.  Little Debbies, Lucky Charms, and Twinkies were big sellers in the beginning of the pandemic.  Sourdough starter and flour, OMG.  There has been a 600% rise in the sale of yeast.  People are making homemade bread, rolls and pastries.  Kombucha clubs have been organized.  I'm not sure what you do in a Kombucha club.  Maybe try different Kombuchas and drink them on a Zoom meeting, like a wine club.  

The sale of pasta, beer, wine, and baking supplies have increased enormously.  Pasta is still in short supply on market shelves.  Kroeger announced that 8 years of projected growth took place in one month!  People are moving into more complex cooking , a trend that might continue.  If you can't go to a Michelin starred restaurant, why not make great food at home?  

With all the increase in supermarket spending, it hasn't seemed to hurt the industry that delivers ingredients to you for a meal you make at home.  I'm talking about Blue Apron and Hello Fresh.  Of course Uber Eats and GrubHub are still very popular.  I guess you could say we're a food obsessed society right now.  As restaurants and bars open up (I hope not too soon), it will be interesting to see if supermarket sales rise or fall.  Time will tell.

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