“While the main criteria for healthy foods was previously determined by ingredients it did not contain, today’s shoppers are now instead wondering what’s in their food, seeking to better understand the nutritional components of what they eat,” says the Director of Consumer Insights for Prevention, Cary Silvers.
About half of shoppers have bought cranberry juice, dark chocolate, or almonds in the past year, probably because there have been marketing campaigns and news coverage touting the health benefits of these so-called “superfoods,” so dubbed because they contain large quantities of specific nutrients. Shoppers are also purchasing green tea (43%), pomegranate juice (25%), and greek yogurt (21%).
Certain health claims are also proving to be attractive to customers. When purchasing food, heart health (73%) is the top health claim on packaging that matters to consumers. More energy (71%), digestive health (66%), and improving mind health (65%) follow closely behind.
Despite this attention to healthy foods, lack of planning is trumping health in the decision-making process at the American dinner table, as 72% of shoppers decide what to have for dinner that day. When same day decisions for dinner are made, health (52%) falls well behind few taste (73%), quickness of preparation (60%) and craving (52%). Lack of meal planning is so pervasive that one-in-four shoppers (24%) decide what to have for dinner within one hour before eating.
“The annual Shopping for Health survey is an invaluable source of information for the food industry," says Publisher of Prevention Laura Petasnick. “Each year, together with FMI, Prevention is able to uncover American’s true habits, desires and behaviors from the supermarket aisles to their nightly dinner routine.”
“Helping food retailers provide their customers with the information they need to make nutritious choices and develop healthy eating habits remains a clarion call for FMI,” says Leslie G. Sarasin, president and chief executive officer for FMI. “As schedules become busier and awareness of health issues increase, the consumer demand for healthful options that are quick and easy for families will grow.”
Healthy Eating
-Shoppers can take many routes to healthy eating, from how they shop to how they prepare food to how they eat. Substantial numbers make an effort in each of these areas.
Taking Another Look at Labels
-Most shoppers generally read food labels, but that share has dropped the last few years, from 71% in 2007 and 2008 to 67% in 2009 and 64% in 2010.
-Even though they say they are not reading labels as much, shoppers are increasingly likely to say they are buying more food products with certain types of labels; attention has shifted slightly away from the unhealthy side of things (trans and saturated fats, sugar/sweeteners, calories) to the healthy side (fiber, whole grains, vitamins/minerals, and protein content). In other words, people seem to be more proactively looking for the healthful ingredients.
Switching versus Cutting Back
-Between 2008 and 2010, shoppers became more likely to say they would either cut down on or cut out cookies and less likely to say they would switch to 100-calorie packs. This latter decline may point to the failure of prepackaged portion control as a healthy diet tactic.
-50% of shoppers say that if they wanted to eat healthier when it comes to salad dressing, soup, yogurt, and crackers, they would either buy a healthier alternative of the same product, substitute with a different product, or switch to a 100-calorie pack where applicable.
Healthy Shopping: Timing Is Everything
-Three in four shoppers say they make most of their food and beverage purchase decisions before they get to the store, although they do not plan their meals that far ahead of time.
Refocusing on Kids’ Health Needs
-Parents have regained some of the focus they had lost in 2009 on their children’s health needs. The share of parents who say they “always” make certain food purchases because they are nutritious for their children grew to 46%, up 11 points from 2009 and back to its 2007 level. A similar share, 47%, say they do this “sometimes,” leaving just 7 percent who do it “not very often” or “never”.
-Parents are also more likely than a year ago to say they “serve healthy options all the time” when it comes to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even snacks – in all cases resurging to or exceeding 2008 levels. Dinners are the most consistently healthy meals, at 65%, followed by breakfasts, at 59%. Lunches and snacks are tied at 47%.
Organic and Natural Foods
-There was an up-tick in shoppers reporting any of a host of organic food purchases in the past six months compared with 2009 levels, up to 45% from 40%.
-Fruits and vegetables still top the organic list, although dairy and eggs edged past cereal/bread/pasta and meat/poultry edged past packaged foods.
-Cost is still the main reason why shoppers do not buy organic food, cited by 67%.
-Six in ten shoppers report having purchased a food or beverage product labeled as “natural” in the past year. Among this group, the greatest numbers say they purchased natural cheese (39%), yogurt (33%), tea (33%), and cereal (31%).
The Shopping for Health survey of America’s supermarket shoppers examines their interests and attitudes regarding health and nutrition, their efforts to manage diets, and the ways in which health and nutritional concerns play out in buying decisions at the supermarket. To purchase Shopping for Health 2011, visit the FMI Store here or call 202.220.0723.
Methodology: The data for Shopping for Health 2011 were collected through an online survey, conducted by Harris Interactive between November 19, 2010 and December 1, 2010, among a nationally representative sample of 1,579 U.S. shoppers on behalf of FMI and Prevention. The margin of error associated with the survey is 3.0 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. All respondents had primary or equally shared responsibility for his or her household’s grocery shopping.
Food Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations on behalf of its 1,500 member companies — food retailers and wholesalers — in the United States and around the world. FMI’s U.S. members operate approximately 26,000 retail food stores and 14,000 pharmacies. Their combined annual sales volume of $680 billion represents three-quarters of all retail food store sales in the United States. FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from more than 50 countries. FMI’s associate members include the supplier partners of its retail and wholesale members.
Prevention is the nation's leading healthy lifestyle brand, with a U.S. magazine audience of 10.2 million readers, 8 international editions, and a top digital destination http://www.prevention.com that has 2.1 million unique visitors each month, 28 million page views, and 1.3 million newsletter subscribers. Each year, nearly 50 million Prevention products are sold, including books, special-interest magazines and bookazines, and DVDs. Prevention's Twitter handle is @PreventionMag and Prevention can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/preventionmagazine. Prevention magazine and its apps are available on the iPhone and iPad.
Food Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations on behalf of its nearly 1,250 food retail and wholesale member companies in the United States and around the world. FMI’s U.S. members operate more than 25,000 retail food stores and almost 22,000 pharmacies with a combined annual sales volume of nearly $650 billion. FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent operators. Its international membership includes 126 companies from more than 65 countries. FMI’s nearly 330 associate members include the supplier partners of its retail and wholesale members.
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