By: Allison Febrey, Senior Manager, Research & Insights, FMI
As a researcher, I spend a lot of time in the minds of consumers. For the past few months, FMI has been tracking consumer sentiment on a variety of issues. Our latest Grocery Shopper Snapshot, fielded April 3-8, shows a shift in consumers—the majority are becoming increasingly concerned and pessimistic about the future.
Looking at 2025 overall, consumers’ attitudes have become apprehensive. When asked about how they are feeling about 2025, consumers shared more negative (38%) feelings than positive (36%), for the first time this year. This has been a large shift in a short amount of time—going back to January, over half of grocery shoppers reported positive feelings for the year ahead.
Numerous concerns may be impacting consumers’ attitudes for the year ahead. When thinking about the U.S. economy overall, 67% of shoppers are extremely or very concerned. A similar portion (65%) are concerned about inflation, and almost half (46%) are concerned about the job market.
Tariffs weigh heavily on the minds of grocery shoppers. As tariffs have been enacted or increased, shoppers have expressed growing concern about the impact of tariffs on imported food. Many also express concern that nonfood tariffs will increase the price of food products.
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Zooming in on those who are concerned about increased tariffs on food, shoppers are specifically worried:
- Grocery prices will increase (75%).
- About the availability of grocery items (57%).
- About affording groceries (57%).
While consumers are feeling negative right now, there are some positives: 79% feel in control of their grocery spending, suggesting that shoppers remain resilient.
FMI will continue tracking shopper behaviors and attitudes on a monthly basis, as part of our Grocery Shopper Snapshot series and check out our new U.S. Grocery Shopper Sentiment webpage.
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