Abstract
Overview
Introduction
Societal shifts such as irregular working hours, longer time spent in transit, and fragmented mealtimes are driving consumers to feel more time pressured. As a result, consumers are increasingly consuming food and drinks on-the-go. This report assesses the trends driving and potentially inhibiting on-the-go food and drinks consumption and predicts how this market will look in 2011.
Scope
- Detailed insight and analysis covering the drivers and inhibitors effecting on-the-go food and drink occasions in Europe and the US.
- Analysis of on-the-go food occasions by age, gender and day-part, as well as analysis of on-the-go beverage consumption frequencies.
- Showcases the latest best-practice product and marketing innovation highlighting just how to capitalize on changing trends in the long-term.
- Strategic conclusions and actions highlighting how manufacturers and retailers should direct resources towards on-the-go food and drink trends.
Highlights
Consumers in Europe and the US are increasingly consuming food and drink on-the go. In 2006, European consumers had, on average, 242 on-the-go food occasions, and this is forecast to rise to 263 occasions per year by 2011. US consumers are the most prone to on-the-go food consumption at 379 occasions per person per year.
The need to relax and reduce stress levels is symptomatic of perceived time pressure among consumers as they struggle to juggle work and family commitments. In 2006, more than half (52%) of respondents in Europe and the US had taken active steps to reduce their stress levels (or set aside specific periods to relax) more often.
Value conscious consumption and the broader concerns over unemployment and finances more generally have the potential to hit the sales of higher-ticket on-the-go products in the future. Price premiums need to be commanded on the basis of more than just convenience and ease.
Reasons to Purchase
- Gain a detailed understanding of the drivers and inhibitors associated with consumers' propensity to consume food and drinks on-the-go.
- Determine the strategies needed to target time-pressured consumers and capitalize on this important trend.
- Access a compelling blend of quantitative and qualitative data illustrating consumer attitudes and market developments.
Table of Contents
- CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- The hot topic
- The future decoded
- Overall on-the-go food and drink occasions are increasing
- Lifestyle trends are contributing to more on-the-go food and drink consumption
- A number of counter trends may inhibit future on-the-go eating and drinking occasions
- On-thego food and drink consumption varies by age and gender
- On-the-move food and drink occasions form an important part of on-the-go occasions
- The propensity to consume food and drink on-the-go changes by time of day
- On-the-go drinking occasions are growing at a faster rate than drinking occasions overall
- There is a growing demand for healthy and convenient food and drinks on-the-go
- Action points
- CHAPTER 2 THE FUTURE DECODED
- Introduction
- On-the-go consumption occurs in one of three contexts
- TREND: Overall on-the-go food and drink occasions are increasing
- The number of on-the-go eating occasions are increasing
- Consumers in the US have the highest number of per capita on-the-go occasions
- The number of on-the-go drinking occasions is increasing
- TREND: Lifestyle trends are contributing to more on-the-go food and
drink consumption
- Consumers are feeling increasingly time-pressured
- Time scarcity is increasingly associated with frenetic lifestyles
- Working parents are particularly prone to time pressures
- Technological innovations are contributing to perceived time pressure
- Consumers across Europe find their work too demanding and stressful
- Consumers are increasingly taking active steps to reduce stress levels
- Consumers are spending more time exercising
- Time spent exercising is increasing
- Sports nutrition consumption is growing
- The growing number of single person households in Europe and the US
has implications for on-the-go consumption
- Single person households are more likely to eat or drink on-the-go
- Consumers are spending a greater amount of time in transit
- Increasing commuting times are driving on-the-go food and drink occasions
- On-the-move food and drink consumers drive foodservice sales
- Morning and lunch routines are driven by time pressures, thereby
encouraging on-the-go, desk-based consumption
- Breakfasts are increasingly characterized by speed and informality
- Lunch is increasingly influenced by time pressures
- Take-outs and implications: time pressures are changing where and how consumers eat and drink
- Consumers are feeling increasingly time-pressured
- TREND: A number of counter trends and inhibitors may impact future
on-the-go eating and drinking occasions
- Consumers are becoming more value orientated which has the potential
to adversely impact convenience-based consumption
- Unemployment and cost of living are major concerns for Europeans
- Value-consciousness is as important as trading up
- Although consumers are trading up often, they are just as keen to trade down in ' commodity areas'
- Value-conscious US consumers want to save money on eating out
- UK consumers are taking more packed lunches into work with them
- In most countries working hours are actually decreasing
- Working times vary significantly between different consumer groups
- A movement towards more flexible working arrangements will impede future on-the-go eating and drinking occasions
- Fathers are increasingly putting careers on hold to take a greater role in their childrens lives
- More portable media devices are competing for the attention of on-the-go consumers
- Take-outs and implications: industry players must look beyond the convenient benefits of on-the-go products
- Consumers are becoming more value orientated which has the potential
to adversely impact convenience-based consumption
- INSIGHT: On-the-go food and drink consumption frequencies vary by age
and gender
- On-the-go consumption affects all age categories, but the largest consumers are those of working age
- On-the-go food consumption frequencies vary by gender
- Men consume food on-the-go more frequently than women
- Take-outs and implications: age and gender variances should influence targeting efforts
- INSIGHT: On-the-move food occasions form an important part of overall
on-the-go occasions
- Take-outs and implications:
- INSIGHT: Time of day influences the propensity to consume food on-the-go
- Takeouts and implications: on-the-go consumption is more likely to occur for snacking than it is core meals
- INSIGHT: On-the-go drinking occasions are growing at a faster rate than
drinking occasions overall
- Healthy on-the-go drinks occasions are forecast to increase share of
overall on-the-go drinks
- The demand for convenient and healthy food and drink solutions is increasing
- Healthy on-the-go drinks are growing as a proportion of overall on-the-go drinking occasions
- Take-outs and implications: beverage consumption on-the-go is a standard form of consumption
- Healthy on-the-go drinks occasions are forecast to increase share of
overall on-the-go drinks
- Conclusions
- Lifestyle habits mean that there is further scope for occasion growth
- There are a number of counter trends that could inhibit on-the-go food and drink occasions
- On-the-go food and drink consumption frequencies vary by age and gender
- On-the-move food occasions form an important part of on-the-go occasions
- Target the breakfast market
- Introduction
- CHAPTER 3 ACTION POINTS
- Introduction: on-the-go products should be marketed in a way that goes beyond convenience benefits
- ACTION: Develop convenient product attributes for on-the-go functionality
- Convenience can mean different things to different consumers
- Modify product packaging to facilitate on-the-go consumption
- Develop bite-sized versions of existing products
- Consider co-selling drinks and snacks together
- Develop easy-grip packaging to facilitate on-the-go consumption
- Develop portion control on-the-go products to capitalize on the health and wellness trend
- ACTION: Develop on-the-go products with genuine value
- Continually evaluate and lower the premiums attached to convenient food and drinks
- Communications should focus on the intrinsic qualities of on-the-go
products rather than simple, convenient packaging benefits
- Value and pleasure orientated consumers will make purchase decisions based on hedonistic products attributes more so than basic packaging functionality that facilitates on-the-go consumption. Rather than championing the easy-hold or easy-grip attributes, promotions should instead look to leverage the sensory appeal of food and drinks. In many instances, this can even mean minimizing packaging. By doing so, manufacturers can draw more attention to the product itself and its intrinsic qualities. This can be done by creating windows in the packaging so consumers can see the product within, as is often done with sandwiches. In addition to this, with growing ethical consumerism, food and beverage manufacturers are increasingly under pressure to reduce the amount of packaging they use.
- Emphasize the origin of your products
- Challenge perceptions that on-the-go products are unhealthy
- ACTION: Form close strategic relationships with on-the-go channel
partners
- Ensure that ' immediacy' is a central theme in distribution plans
- Develop innovative vending machine products to compete with foodservice operators
- Use forecourt retailers to drive on-the-move food and drink sales
- Offering consumers more choice through convenience stores and independent retailers will be important
- Co-brand products with foodservice operators to generate consumer recognition
- Ensure that ' immediacy' is a central theme in distribution plans
- CHAPTER 4 APPENDIX
- Definitions
- Research methodology
- References
- How to contact experts in your industry
- List of Tables
- Table 1: Overall and per person number of on-the-go eating occasions (million), Europe & US, 2006-2011
- Table 2: Overall and per person number of on-the-go drinking occasions (million), Europe & US, 2006-2011
- Table 3: Extent to which consumers have taken active steps to reduce stress levels over the past year (%), US & Europe, 2006
- Table 4: Consumer survey: the extent to which European and US consumers spent more time exercising than in the previous year, by country, 2006
- Table 5: European and US consumer spending on sports nutrition products ($m), by category, 2000-2010
- Table 6: Number of single person households in Europe and the US, (millions and as a percentage of total), by country, 2001-2011
- Table 7: Average daily commute time per employed European and US citizen per working day (minutes a day), by country, 2001-2011
- Table 8: Average time taken by consumers to prepare meals according to time of day, US and Europe, 2004
- Table 9: The percentage of global consumers who seek discounts and express satisfaction from value, by country, 2005
- Table 10: Average hours per year and per week, per person in employment, Europe & US, 2001-2011
- Table 11: Global home working projections, by country and type, (m), Europe & US, 2001-2011
- Table 12: Overall number of on-the-go food occasions (millions) and per head occasions, Europe & US, by age and country, 2006
- Table 13: Overall (millions) and per head on-the-go eating occasions, Europe & US, by gender and country, 2006-2011
- Table 14: Overall (millions) and per capita on-the-move and on-the-go food occasions, Europe & US, by country, 2006-2011,
- Table 15: Overall (millions) and per capita on-the-go occasions by mealtime occasion, Europe & US, by country, 2006-2011
- Table 16: Overall (millions) and per capita on-the-go snacking occasions by daypart, Europe & US, by country, 2006-2011
- Table 17: Overall (millions) and per capita on-the-move mealtime occasions, by day-part, Europe & US, by country, 2006-2011
- Table 18: Overall (millions) and per capita drinking occasions: a comparison of on-the-go occasions against beverage occasions in total, Europe & US, by country, 2006-2011
- Table 19: Extent to which consumers sought more food and drinks which were both convenient AND healthy in 2006 than the previous year, Europe & US
- Table 20: European and US healthy on-the-go drinking occasions (total), 2006-2011
- Table 21: Sales of bottled water, ($m), Europe & US, 2001-2011
- Table 22: Sales of carbonated drinks, ($m), Europe & US, 2001-2011
- Table 23: On-the-go definitions
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: On-the-go consumption occurs when consumers are engaged in other activities or in environments not particularly suited to food or drink consumption
- Figure 2: Factors driving on-the-go food and drink consumption
- Figure 3: Well over a third of EU citizens believe that their work is too demanding and stressful
- Figure 4: Factors inhibiting future on-the-go food and drink occasions
- Figure 5: Hi-lo consumerism: consumers are trading up and down depending on the emotional importance of the purchase
- Figure 6: US consumers are notably value-conscious when it comes to consumer packaged goods
- Figure 7: On-the-go food and drinks may be sacrificed by otherwise occupied consumers
- Figure 8: Developing bite-size versions of existing products is one way of making food for suitable for on-the-go consumption
- Figure 9: Consider co-selling drinks and snacks together
- Figure 10: Developing easy-grip packaging is an important factor associated with targeting on-the-go consumption
- Figure 11: 100-calorie packs have been an important area of innovation in the US, especially for snacks
- Figure 12: Price premiums should be associated with the factors related to the premium price index (PPI) rather than more basic convenience benefits
- Figure 13: Emphasize the origin of your products
- Figure 14: Challenge perceptions that on-the-go products are unhealthy
- Figure 15: Developing innovate vending machine products to compete with foodservice operators has the potential to be an important route to serving on-the-go consumers
