What’s in Store for 2017: The Premise of Growth is Changing
As the New Year is in full swing so are changes with the average American consumer. According to recent Nielsen data, the foundation of growth with the typical American consumer is shifting. As a retail dietitian knowing your consumers and insights can help, you position products, like pork, more effectively.
Health and Wellness:
Health will look more like wellness.
- Health is top of mind for Americans due to several factors: aging population, rising health care costs, increase in chronic diseases, demand for transparency and technology access.
- One in three Americans suffers from an allergy but more than half restrict their diet from consumption of foods or ingredients. 1
- Consumers want to prepare their own food – homemade food is seen as a path towards healthier eating.
- Fifty-five percent of consumers are following a specific diet to be healthy.
- Retailers are becoming health care providers. One in five Americans has visited a retail health clinic in the last year – 35% of Hispanics and 26% of Millennials – U.S. average is 20%. 2
- Healthful claims, such as natural, are driving outsized growth. Millennials are more likely to purchase foods with holistic descriptors, like “high in protein” for example. 3
With health being a driving factor there are increasing opportunities to promote lean, fresh pork and its health benefits at retail – no matter the specific diet, allergy or diseased state the consumer is focused on. Pork packs a nutrient punch in every lean serving. A three-ounce serving of pork tenderloin, for example, is an "excellent" source of protein, thiamin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, selenium and niacin, and a "good" source of potassium, riboflavin, choline and zinc, yet contributes only 6% of calories to a 2,000 calorie diet.
Multicultural:
Multicultural will look more like cross-cultural.
- The demographics of America are changing – Hispanic, Asian American and African American populations are growing as White, Non-Hispanic populations are on the decline.
- Multicultural households are of millennial age and younger.
- The multiracial experience – Fifteen percent of second-generation adults and eight percent of all U.S. adults have a spouse of a different race/ethnicity than from themselves.
- According to a recent Harris poll, thirty-eight percent of U.S. adults eat foods containing multicultural flavors once a week or more, 100% prefer cooking with fresh products rather than frozen or canned and 81% cook meals frequently during the week.
- Hispanic impact can be felt well beyond Hispanic households as annual sales of salsa covers Ketchup sales by nearly $600 million, tortilla chips grew more in the past year than potato chips and tortillas exceed the combined sales of hamburger and hot dog buns. 4
- Millennials are more likely to bring multicultural twists to “traditional American” dishes.
Pork is a very versatile protein and seven of the most common cuts of pork have, on average, 16% less fat and 27% less saturated fat than 22 years ago. This allows for endless opportunities providing healthy, inspiring pork meal creations across all cultures. Motivating customers to think about fresh, lean pork can help you reap the benefits of increased fresh meat sales and help your consumers build a healthy plate. For more Hispanic influenced recipes visit http://porkteinspira.com/ or http://www.porkbeinspired.com/.
1 Nielsen Global Survey Sensitive Eaters –Q1 2016 –U.S.
2 Source: Nielsen “Retail Health Care Services as Total Store Growth Opportunity” survey conducted by the Harris Poll. Online survey of 2,223 U.S. adults ages 18+ in Sep & Oct 2016.
3 Nielsen Answers, Total U.S. –All Outlets Combined (plus Convenience), Last 52 Weeks ending November 26, 2016 (vs. year ago)
4 Nielsen Answers, Total U.S. –All Outlets Combined (plus Convenience), Last 52 Weeks ending April 30, 2016 (vs. year ago)
