Fewer new products, but more changes in supermarkets
My articles on food trends usually include exciting new products and some innovations in food manufacturing or packaging. But like everything else in 2020, this trend report is different because of the coronavirus pandemic. Companies are putting innovation on the back burner to focus on supply chain issues.
Stocking shelves with innovative new products is less of a priority than stocking shelves, period.
My deep dive into what’s to come in 2021 uncovered more changes in the business models for farms, food manufacturers and grocery stores than in products. “It’s a total sea change,” says Phil Lempert, food industry analyst and editor at SupermarketGuru.com, in Santa Monica, Calif.
“For food companies, the number one priority right now is not innovation, it’s production efficiency.”
The pandemic has uncovered gaps in distribution, packaging and sales, which have led to an increase in product shortages and stressed consumers. Lempert is watching companies solve inefficiencies by cutting back on the number of products they sell. He notes that one soup company has dropped its varieties from 80 to 40. He’s seen supermarkets skip distributors and contract directly with farmers to guarantee product quality, availability and delivery. He’s even sees some stores limiting the number of certain products that consumers can buy.
Katie McBreen, vice president of communications and strategy for the Consumer Brands Association, says, “We’ve seen a definite movement toward (product) optimization as a result of COVID from food, beverage and snacks to cleaning products.” Large companies are focusing on streamlining product offerings, culling outdated items and prioritizing core brands.
The average number of product offerings in grocery stores declined more than 7% during the four weeks ending June 13, according to data provided by Nielsen.
Offering a smaller selection of items can reduce consumer confusion, boost sales, and trim time and expense for shoppers. “The supermarket in six to nine months from now is going to look totally different than it does now,” says Lempert, who predicts changes in both layout and operations.
He believes many supermarkets will implement a “reservation” model, and will be laid out in two sections: The back part will stock packaged goods that will be bundled up for you from your shopping list while you browse the front of the store, which will carry fresh vegetables, meat and bakery items. Lempert predicts that an average 22-minute grocery shop could take just 10 minutes with such a layout, mitigating some grocery store anxiety for customers.
More plant-based items on the shelves
While there may be fewer innovative products on the shelves, they seem to have something in common: a focus on health, especially the growing interest in plantbased food. Sales data from Nielsen shows that sales of plant-based milk alternatives grew 19% in the past year, and sales of plant-based meats grew 46%.
After noting the popularity of plant-based burgers, and the double-digit sales growth in plant-based foods in 2020, food manufacturers are making over other animalbased foods.
Health professionals continue to debate whether these highly processed products are nutritious, but that hasn’t stopped innovation.