“Eating healthy has been one of the big casualties of this economic downturn,” says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at NPD Group and author of the research firm’s annual “Eating Patterns in America” report. “Last year, consumers cut back on eating ‘better-for-you’ and organic foods.”
In an online survey this summer of 1,200 people about food affordability, conducted by food-industry research firm Technomic, 70% of respondents said healthier foods are increasingly difficult to afford.
“Value is what counts to consumers right now,” says Bob Goldin, executive vice president at Technomic. “And, unfortunately, in the minds of many consumers, a lot of these lower-priced options are just not as healthy, but they’re still buying them.”
Consumers are turning to more affordable grab-and-go alternatives such as chips, cookies, candy, snack wraps and mini-burgers in between meals — and often in lieu of a formal meal — according to a number of industry studies, including one by NPD Group.
Market-research firm Mintel sees double-digit sales gains in the U.S. this year for salty snacks, popcorn and cheese snacks. Potato-chip sales are on a path to increase 22% this year, compared with all of 2007, according to Mintel. Tortilla-chip sales are up 18%.
And as the struggling restaurant industry can attest, more consumers are eating at home. But that doesn’t mean they are making things from scratch. More people are microwaving frozen pizza or bringing home fast food, according to NPD Group.
“Approximately 20% of all meals prepared in our homes from 1990 to 2007 involved the use of a microwave,” says Mr. Balzer. But in 2008, microwave usage rose to 30%. NPD Group, which has been following the microwaving habits of American consumers for nearly two decades, attributes that gain to the troubled economy.
Not surprising, then, are the rising rates of obesity and diabetes. The obesity rate climbed more than one percentage point to 26.4% in September from a year earlier, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a measure of U.S. health compiled by the Gallup research firm and wellness-program provider Healthways.
Born Curious 
Recent Comments