Budget consciousness and varied diets: How 2 consumer trends have developed in one year

In my post a few weeks ago I touched on two topics which I believe are going to see significant traction this year - sustainability and new consumer trends. 

We talked about sustainability previously, so in today’s post, I’d like to talk more about two specific consumer trends that we’ve seen developing over the past year. 

Budget Consciousness: 

While consumers are generally becoming more price conscious when it comes to buying food, research amongst consumers around the world has shown that they struggle with their current approach to food delivery and grocery shopping: 70% admit to spending more than intended on food. Around 18% of consumers even go over their food budget because they accidentally buy repeat ingredients or ingredients that they only use once in the supermarket. In fact, nearly 10% of those involved said that not being able to guarantee steady prices at the supermarket had them going over their food budget. 

Restaurant meals delivered via food delivery platforms certainly offer great convenience, but the cost of the average meal is 2-3x that of a home-cooked meal and hence this is something that families can only afford to do so often, let alone health and environmental concerns. 

The benefit of a weekly delivered meal kit is that they are filled with a wide range of recipes and pre-portioned ingredients that help consumers keep their food budget on track, aside from providing them with healthy and varied meals. In fact, we believe meal kits are the only way to combine great affordability with great convenience. 

Which brings me to the second trend we’re observing....

Varied diets: 

Over the past few months, we’ve seen that consumers across the world haven’t been particularly adventurous with trying out new recipes, despite their interest in eating new cuisines and following a change in diet. 72% of consumers cite a lack of confidence in the kitchen. Often they consider grocery prices and restrictions within supermarkets being at the top of the lists of barriers encountered when they want to start trying new foods and reshuffle their dinner routines. 

At the same time, having a varied diet is essential for our well-being. The study also shows, however, that it may not always be easy to explore new foods and ingredients, mostly for barriers in procuring the right ingredients and easy-to-cook recipes. HelloFresh introduces customers to new flavours, cuisines and spice blends every week, helping them achieve varied and balanced eating habits. This is among the top reasons why consumers choose meal kits and us as the world’s most successful brand. 

We are now doubling down on this and have recently launched our specialty diet brand Green Chef in the UK, in order to be able to cater to an even broader range of different preferences. 

While consumer habits and requirements will continue to change, I am convinced that meal kits offer a broad variety of benefits. They address convenience, time sensitivity, choice and many more aspects that we will continue to analyse and come up with the right meal solutions for our customers.