By: Allison Febrey, Senior Manager, Research & Insights, FMI

As Spring is in full bloom, I find myself buying more and more plants. This year, I bought a tomato plant and often go outside to check on the baby tomatoes. I find myself celebrating each time a new tomato starts growing. There is a lot to celebrate in Spring, and despite all the concerns consumers have been facing, shoppers find things to celebrate too.

On the sunny side of life, 80% of consumers plan on celebrating a holiday in the coming month, including Memorial Day, graduations, and other special events. Most (65%) plan to celebrate by gathering with friends and family, and many (43%) plan to enjoy a meal with others indoors, proving that the Family Meals Movement is still thriving.

There are still some rain showers in Spring, and consumers remain concerned about a number of food-related issues. Shoppers are most concerned about increased tariffs on imported food.

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Among those who are at least somewhat concerned about tariffs, shoppers are worried about:

• Grocery prices increasing (73%)
• The availability of grocery items (55%)
• Affording groceries (51%)

More than tariffs are on the minds of shoppers. Consumers are also extremely or very concerned about food transportation costs (43%), decreased access to accurate information about food safety issues (42%), and increasing medication costs and/or supply issues (40%).

Outside the world of food, consumers have broader concerns as well. Over half of shoppers are concerned about:

• Inflation (62%)
• U.S. economy (59%)
• Recession (52%)

Despite all these concerns, most shoppers (79%) still feel in control of their grocery expenses.

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.