Supermarket Guru’s 2009 predictions
The Supermarket Guru, Phil Lempert, is a specialist working with the large supermarket chains in the USA by analysing trends. He has made some predictions for what will happen with the retail food industry in the next year in the USA, and these are of interest in Australia as well.
Consumers want simple, cost effective foods that they can prepare themselves at home and remain high quality.
“Americans are taking a hard look at every aspect of their food, from where it comes from to what’s on the ingredient label,” Mr Lempert said. “Major brands are responding in positive ways to ensure they meet these consumer demands in 2010.”
The following are the seven primary trends that Mr Lempert has observed;
• Less is More – Consumers are looking for simpler and easy to understand labels and whole foods without unnecessary additives.
• The Changing Face of Private Label – Due to the poor economic situation during 2009, many shoppers were purchasing the Store Brands, due to the savings. It is expected that major manufacturers will develop co-branded private labels with the retailers using their own ingredients, in effort to increase their sales again.
• Getting Back to Basics – Home cooking is where it is all happening, as a result of the Global Financial Crisis and it is expected that this will continue throughout 2010. The huge success of cooking shows across the whole world in 2009 simply reinforces this. Looking for simple, quality ingredients and recipes will be the major trend
• The Butcher’s Back – People are relay wanting to know where their food is coming from so butchers shops and greengrocers are back in vogue.
• Power of the Collective – With the ever increasing social networking occurring through Twitter, Facebook etc, we should expect that more shoppers will depend less on advertising and more on their discussions on these sites , as well as word-of-mouth to help them make decisions on what foods to buy and when.
• Relaxation Foods – With most people having a very busy lifestyle, foods that are branded as “relaxation “foods will be on the increase. Relaxation foods will be the new comfort foods. Mr Lempert is even predicting that this trend will also cause a resurgence of after-dinner beverages, eg cocoa etc.
Visit www.supermarketguru.com for information about Phil Lempert and The Supermarket Guru.