Demand for Prepared Foods has Jumped 11% since 2017

According to Technomic’s 2019 Retail Foodservice Consumer Trend Report, demand for prepared foods has jumped 11% since 2017.1 Approximately 66% of consumers in 2019 said they purchased prepared foods from a retail outlet at least 3 times a month, whereas in 2017 this number was only at 55%.

Prepared foods include hot or cold foods that you’d find at a deli counter or in-store restaurant that are ready-to-eat.1 Grocers have been feeling this positive growth and are responding with the expansions of restaurants in-hours and made-to-order meals.2 Technomic even predicts that the grocery business is “headed for a widespread incorporation of self-run, full-service restaurants inside of the traditional grocery walls.”3

The main drivers behind this dynamic trend can be attributed to improvements in prepared foods’ ingredient quality and freshness, and of course, the convenience benefit.4 By incorporating ingredients that have a strong, positive health perception, grocers may be able to succeed in the growing retail foodservice space.

 

Sources:

1. https://www.technomic.com/newsroom/retail-foodservice-purchases-rise-compared-2017-new-technomic-study-discovers
2. https://www.grocerydive.com/news/demand-for-prepared-foods-jumped-11-report-says/569823/
3. https://www.technomic.com/newsletters/technomics-take/whats-ahead-grocerants
4. https://www.technomic.com/newsroom/consumers-increasingly-making-food-choices-based-personal-definition-health