[ad_1]
There is no trend, exactly, other than this: people want comfort. They also want to eat their way to stronger immune systems. They are stressed when baking, but they also eat healthier than they would in restaurants. Avocados are inside. The pork is outside. Frozen pizzas and instant noodles are being sold.
And these seemingly conflicting and convergent buying patterns are tipping agricultural markets, and avocado prices have increased 60% since the beginning of March, while butter is falling due to loss of demand for restaurants.
However it cuts it off, the coronavirus has “completely changed everything,” said Sylvain Charlebois, professor and principal director of the Dalhousie University agri-food analysis laboratory in Halifax, Canada.
“People are more concerned with putting food on the table than anything else,” he said. “That really changes a consumer’s mindset.”
According to some experts, some of these trends may be here to stay. Now that some people have returned to packaged foods, they may be surprised to see improvements in the quality of these products and continue to purchase them even in the post-quarantine world. Cooking more at home could also continue long after the locks end.
‘Health Halo’
Avocados are one of the foods that have experienced a surprising price increase in recent weeks. When the closure measures first came into effect, farmers in Mexico, the world’s leading producer, began to slow down harvesting activities, anticipating a drop in demand.
But it turns out that avocado toast and guacamole are proving to be favorites to stay home. Demand has been much higher than producers expected, and that has led to an increase in prices. According to the government, a box of Hass avocados from the state of Michoacán, the largest producer in Mexico, cost around 480 pesos ($ 19) on April 24. That’s roughly 60% of 300 in early March.
Other products have been flying off the supermarket shelves. Retail sales of citrus in the US USA They stood out, since they obtained around 50% of the levels of the previous year in March, according to data from the IRI researcher.
“There is a general health halo about all fresh produce,” said Roland Fumasi, an analyst at RaboResearch in Fresno, California.
It could be the vitamin C content in citrus fruits that triggered the purchase, as consumers seek to boost their immune systems. Orange juice, once a breakfast staple that had fallen out of favor due to its high sugar content, also got a boost. Futures traded in New York have risen approximately 13% since the end of February.
In Asia, consumers are turning to traditional remedies to protect themselves from the virus, according to Tan Heng Hong, food and beverage analyst at APAC at market research firm Mintel. In Vietnam, people eat more black garlic and Indonesians stock up on jamu, a traditional medicine made from natural ingredients.
Comforting meals
For many people, eating has become an escape from boredom and stress these days. Consumers are picking up items at the grocery store that they had been avoiding just a few months ago; In particular, packaged foods have received a new life.
“Traditionally, food has a comforting role,” said Tan of Mintel.
Nestlé SA, the world’s largest food and beverage company, is seeing very strong demand for essential foods and beverages, Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider said earlier this month. The company makes DiGiorno frozen pizzas and Maggi instant noodles.
Conagra Brands Inc., which includes Duncan Hines, Chef Boyardee and Birds Eye in its portfolio, is experiencing momentum across all categories, CEO Sean Connolly said late last month.
“It moved in waves, but everything moves,” he said.
Snack consumption is also increasing. That’s partly because people are trapped at home, but also because they spend more time doing eating-related activities, like watching “King King” on Netflix.
The South Korean case is instructive for other markets, according to researcher Euromonitor International Ltd. Snack sales at a popular convenience store in the country rose 9% from a year earlier in the first part of March.
Restaurant losses
Even with the huge increase in grocery shopping, the blow from restaurant closings is too great to overcome in some markets. So there have been things like pouring milk. Farmers are forced to ditch excess supplies because demand from cheese and butter makers has dried up.
Price movements illuminate that pain. Butter futures in Chicago have fallen to a minimum in a decade, and cheese has also collapsed.
Belgium’s famous pomme frite suppliers are another victim. The country is the world’s leading shipper of frozen potato products, selling potato chips, crisps and mashed potatoes to more than 160 countries, said Romain Cools, secretary general of the Belgapom industrial group. The vast majority are exported and demand is depleting as the food service industry stops. European processing potato futures have fallen nearly 90% this year, trading at a record low.
Even if restaurants continue to place takeout orders, many have narrowed their menu offerings, while home cooks generally aren’t using as many ingredients as they could eat at a table meal.
But consumers will also be delighted to see that $ 20 is spent much more at the grocery store than at a haute cuisine or fast-service restaurant, said Nicholas Fereday, senior consumer goods analyst at RaboResearch in New York. And the revival of packaged foods could have some long-term effects on shopping habits.
“There is a simplification in progress,” Fereday said. Packaged foods “are certainly more available because there is more production and people will remember it.” When there was nothing left to eat, these companies complied. “
