Consumer trends for food and packaged goods

Observation:   Today’s Marketing Daily shares insights from the Hartman Group related to consumer packaged goods.  Among the notable trends they offer:  44% of adult eating happens alone (contrary to the visuals in a lot of CPG advertising).   And roughly 11% of CPG products are consumed within an hour of purchase… meaning many items are purchased and consumed spontaneously (they call it compulsively) or as a just-in-time meal or snack solution.  Click here to see the full Marketing Daily story, or to request a download of the complete report from Hartman Group, click here.

Implications:   This report helps illustrate both the spontaneous nature of today’s food shopper, and the incredible velocity at which consumers seem to be living.

For years now, we’ve been talking about how today’s food consumer is different from those of years past; today’s shopper is less likely to back the station wagon up to the supermarket and load it up with groceries for the month… and more likely to stop in on Thursday just to find a meal to serve that night when she/he gets home.

For many consumers, the supermarket is increasingly being treated like a pantry, where one stops in for what they need in the near term or to solve an immediate meal incident.   

What kinds of changes are you seeing in the way people buy in your category?  Has your company, product or service adjusted to those shifts?  Has your messaging?

Mike Anderson, for the Elm Street Economics consumer trends blog. A service of The Center for Sales Strategy, Inc.