Consumer data

From a bigger focus on health to cutting back on spend, COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on how we approach food. For millions around the world, it’s changed how shop for, plan and eat our daily meals and transformed our attitudes to eating out.

As we continue to emerge from a world rocked by coronavirus, we asked our global consumer community about the changes in attitudes and behaviours they’ve observed over the last six months when it comes to food. From our responses, we’ve identified seven global food trends that are having real global impact in the wake of COVID-19 – plus a five-step brand tool-kit telling you how your brand or organisation can react.

Keeping it local
Shopping local has been gaining momentum over the last few years and it’s only getting bigger in the wake of the coronavirus. With our global markets reporting over 70% participation in more locally-sourced food shopping, it’s clear that buying local is a major priority post covid. Pre-pandemic, the key rationale around going local was a focus on sustainability, food miles and ethics. While these factors remain important, the impact of COVID-19 has shifted motivations slightly: shopping locally is considered cheaper, when more and more of us are cutting back; it supports local economies in a time of economic upheaval and increased community spirit; and is healthier at a time when people are more focused on boosting immunity. All these factors featured heavily in our study.

Zero waste
Linked to similar motives around sustainability that have inspired our local shopping trend, we have also observed a significant move towards zero waste. For example, Brazil reported over 85% participation in zero-waste food shopping and over 64% of Malaysians emphasised greater sustainability in their weekly shop. While this has been a growing trend in recent years, we have seen an increased awareness of the environment impact of food post lockdown, as people have been cooking more from scratch, travelling and eating out less and considering the positive environmental impact of this. 

Veganism, veggi, flexi
While vegan, veggi and flexi diets have been on the rise in recent years, we’ve definitely seen a spike in a move towards plant-based eating as a result of covid. This can be put down to an increased focus on health combined with more time spent cooking at home and, consequently, a move towards trying out new dishes and new diets. Our consumer survey reported 55% of UK respondents using meat substitutes post covid, and 57% of Malaysians replacing dairy products.

From the garden to the table
Gardening and growing at home are officially booming! As the pandemic has forced many people indoors and anxieties remain high around going into public for fear of close contact, many of our digital customer communities have been growing their own food at home. And why not? It’s good for you – physically, mentally, AND financially. Growing your own is a trend we see becoming increasingly prevalent in 2021. Watch this space for a follow-up piece exploring the home-grown phenomenon… 

The hottest new restaurant: Your dining room
With restaurants having been shut down and/or operating capacities greatly curbed (along with fear of infection keeping people away), our digital research community has been cooking and eating more at home than ever before. Health, fear and financial anxieties have meant more and more people are replacing the restaurant with more elaborate home dining, utilising online recipes and food sites and bringing debonaire dining into the home.  

Back to the basics (of ingredients)
Our customer survey communities have reported a heavy emphasis on going back to basics when it comes to food. Simple, healthy and natural ingredients are at the top of the foodie agenda for our community – with a notable rejection of anything considered processed and heavily synthetic. Preservatives, e-numbers and ‘hidden nasties’ were mentioned time and time again by our community and saturated fats and high sugar levels were top of the list of things to be avoided.

Disease Defence!
Boosting immunity and disease defence is high on the agenda when it comes to food shopping – being mentioned heavily in our open text responses. With not just health but ‘avoiding sickness’ being a high priority, our global respondents indicated a strong desire to eat foods with the intention of increasing their bodies’ natural defences against viruses and illness.

Brand tool-kit

• Invest in sustainability. COVID-19 has seen an increased focus on sustainability and the impact of farming, shopping and travel on the environment. Our community demands that brands are demonstrating sustainable farming processes and ethical, environmentally-friendly sourcing. ‘Conscious consumerism’ is at the heart of our Bulbsharers’ outlook and they expect brands to be the same.
• Minimise waste. From packaging to the products themselves, consumers are looking to cut out waste wherever possible. Any packaging innovations that cut back on waste – particularly plastic – will be sure to engage shoppers and draw people to your brand.
• Go local. Our post covid consumers are more focused on supporting local communities than ever before. It’s time to reduce your food miles by using local producers. Brands that shout about the local farmers and producers they invest in will gain traction with post covid consumers who are also growing their own, sourcing local and looking to reduce their carbon footprint.
• Focus on health. Our global customer advocacy community has made it clear that health is more important than ever post covid. Be it boosting immunity or disease defense or just keeping things 100% natural, health messages on food packages will be more critical over the coming months.
• Be aware of tightening budgets. People all over the world are continuing to cut back in the wake of growing financial uncertainty, and brands must be sensitive to this. Messaging around simple, honest value will be key, as shoppers connect to brands that understand that many of us are facing challenging times.