Research Stats on Food, Drink Markets During Recession

CHICAGO – A few stats from Mintel’sl research reports on food and drink markets that are actually being improved by recessionary woes.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen people trying to save money on food by either dining out less, cutting supermarket bills, or both. More people cook at home now, but they still want healthy, convenient, tasty food and drink for their dollar,” said Bill Patterson, senior analyst at Mintel, in a press release to Business Wire.

  • Bread – The core of basic American eating, from breakfast bagels to lunchtime sandwiches to dinner rolls, Mintel sees the bread market faring the recession quite well. Originally predicted to grow 2.1% in 2008, Mintel’s latest figures show the bread market having grown 7%. Mintel now predicts higher growth for bread through 2013.
  • Sweet Spreads – “Brown bag lunches are back!” states Bill Patterson. America’s quintessential lunch-the PB&J-is doing great during recessionary times. A healthy, cheap source of protein, peanut butter will drive sweet spread sales to increase 26% from 2008-2013, up substantially from Mintel’s initial prediction of 12%.
  • Frozen Meals – Convenient, available in family-sized servings, filling and often inexpensive, frozen meals will undoubtedly benefit from the recession. Mintel expects a total sales increase of 4.5% in 2008, a jump from its original -0.3% expectation.
  • Side Dishes – More people are cooking at home, but small conveniences like ready-prepared side dishes aren’t out of the question for many families. Mintel only expected the side dish market to grow 2.3% in 2008, but in fact, it grew more than 5%, driven by increased sales of basic comfort foods such as mac and cheese.
  • Coffee – The $4 latte is finally going out of fashion. More adults are making their coffee at home, causing the retail coffee market to grow 6% in 2008, a substantial jump from Mintel’s original forecast of 2.4%. Mintel expects this market to enjoy continued success in the future, though recent, less expensive coffee drink launches from Dunkin Donuts and McDonald’s will compete with at-home coffee sales.

Mintel is a supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence with offices in Chicago, London, Belfast, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo. See www.mintel.com.

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