CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Consumer confidence has been up and down in 2019. Despite a strong start to the year, confidence dimmed at the end of Q1 2019. It is currently surging again due to a strong labor market, but trade issues could easily cloud this outlook. This mixed bag is impacting consumer spending on food and beverages, according to the latest IRI Consumer Connect™ survey findings released today. Food inflation softened in Q1 2019 to 1.7% compared to 2.2% in 2018, but not everyone is freely opening their wallets. Younger millennials (born 1990+) are outspending older generations in food dollars, while older cohorts are more likely to be using a number of money-saving tactics to keep food bills manageable. To get a closer look at the most recent food and beverage trends for the beginning of the year, IRI also released “Early View 2019.”
“Younger millennials have been lulled by the historically low unemployment rates, which is boosting their overall confidence and loosening their wallets,” said Joan Driggs, vice president of Content and Thought Leadership for IRI. “At the other end of the spectrum, many baby boomers, retirees and seniors are concerned about their retirement savings due the volatile stock market this year and are watching their expenses more carefully. In recent years, millennials have been less optimistic than older consumers and were spending less. We are now seeing a role reversal that is impacting spending on edibles across the board.”
Food and beverage trends
Edible sales increased in January 2019; however, the growth was slower than the industry average and cooled off in February and March. The West (4.1%) and Plains (3%) regions led the way in edible growth, and the Northeast (1.4%) and South Central (1.2%) had the slowest growth for the 13 weeks ending March 25, 2018.
Storewide department sales trends are rather mixed. Beverage and liquor were top-performing departments in Q1, while the general food and refrigerated departments, which experienced 3.7% and 3.2% growth in January, declined by 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively, in March 2019.
Produce and meat posted declines in pounds, placing downward pressure on the whole sector in Q1, while the bakery department posted strong dollar growth driven by price. Perimeter pound growth has slowed compared to a year ago across most sectors, including deli cheese, deli meat, deli prepared, bakery, meat, produce and seafood.
Generational spending and saving habits
Younger millennial spending on food and beverages is clearly outpacing older baby boomers and retirees, who struggled in Q1. In fact, younger millennials’ edible dollar sales grew by 21.5% for March compared to a year ago. And edible dollars sales for retirees and senior is down by 3.8% for March compared to a year ago.
Older generations are feeling a bit pinched and are embracing a wide variety of money-saving tactics:
Emerging trends in sustainable and plant-based products
With nearly six in 10 consumers interested in eating less meat, and nearly eight in 10 millennials eating meat alternatives, it is no secret that plant-based eating is gaining momentum.
However, consumers also are looking to the power of plants for products that do more — for their bodies, their families, the environment and the world. The rate of consumer acceptance of plant-centric products across the store is increasing rapidly, going from just a handful of categories in 2014 to more than 90 categories, totaling more than $13 billion in cumulative sales in 2018. Products such as dish care, facial care and cosmetics are well on the path toward reaching peak household penetration in addition to more obvious products, such as pet food, meat alternatives and cheese.
The need for cleaner and healthier products goes beyond plant-based products, with 78% of consumers saying sustainable sourcing of ingredients is an important product attribute. Research conducted by IRI and NYU’s Stern Center for Sustainable Business found that sustainably marketed products delivered 50.1% of market growth from 2013 to 2018 while representing 16.6% of the CPG market in dollar sales in 2018. Across all categories, sustainably marketed products delivered $113.9 billion in sales in 2018, 29% growth compared to 2013, and are expected to grow to $140.5 billion by 2023.
“The latest generational spending habits combined with increased interest in plant-based and sustainable products, opens up an array of new opportunities for CPG marketers,” added Driggs. “To be successful marketers must consider the importance of social media reviews, create fresh, relatable content and be authentic when targeting younger consumers. This doesn’t mean marketers should lose sight of older consumers, who still have the greatest purchasing power, but marketers must be very savvy and develop personalized, targeted marketing campaigns that appeal to the various generations of shoppers.”
About the IRI Consumer Connect Survey
IRI provides new survey results at the end of each calendar quarter covering shoppers’ behaviors and attitudes as they directly relate to their strategies for learning about, purchasing and utilizing CPG and health care products, as well as information regarding perceptions of economic conditions and their ability to provide for their families. For more information about customizing the research for a particular category or industry, please contact IRIMarketing@IRIworldwide.com.
About the IRI Partner Ecosystem
IRI fundamentally believes that delivering differentiated growth for clients requires deep, highly integrated partnering with a variety of best-of-breed companies. As such, IRI works closely with a broad range of industry leaders across multiple industries and sectors to create innovative joint solutions, services and access to capabilities to help its clients more effectively collaborate and compete in their various markets and exceed their growth objectives. IRI is committed to its partnership philosophy and continues to actively enhance its open ecosystem of partners through alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions and affiliations. The IRI Partner Ecosystem includes such leading companies as 84.51°, Adobe, BDS Analytics, The Boston Consulting Group, Clavis Insights, comScore, Data Plus Math, Edison, Experian, GfK, Gigwalk, Google, Ipsos, Jumpshot, Label Insight, Mastercard Advisors, MaxPoint, MFour, Omnicom, One Click Retail, Oracle, Pinterest, Research Now/SSI, Simulmedia, SPINS, TRAX, Univision, Viant and others.
About IRI
IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers and media companies to grow their businesses. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers and deliver market-leading growth. A confluence of major external events — a revolution in consumer buying, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and automated consumer activation — is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. Ensure that your business can leverage data at www.iriworldwide.com.
