The COVID-19 pandemic has been a giant learning experience about many things — and one of these is how consumer perspectives are shifting.
<p>By Rick Stein, Vice President of Fresh, FMI</p> <div class="mg-image--circular" style="float: right; margin: 10px;"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/photos-for-staff-use/produce/picture43.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=4a9e406e_2" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="Picture43" title="Picture43" /></div> <p>The COVID-19 pandemic has been a giant learning experience about many things — and one of these is how consumer perspectives are shifting.</p> <p>FMI has been <a href="https://www.fmi.org/our-research/research-reports/u-s-grocery-shopper-trends">tracking this topic closely</a>, and my role is to examine this on the fresh foods side. Back in August, at our <a href="https://www.fmi.org/fresh-forward">FreshForward</a> conference, speakers identified how quickly consumers have evolved this year. Since that time, however, the puck keeps moving.</p> <p>That’s why we are spotlighting new consumer perspectives in our kickoff installment of a new FMI monthly webinar series called <em>FreshForward Conversations</em>. We brought back one of the key speakers from the August conference — Ujwal Arkalgud, CEO of MotivBase — to provide an update on how consumers have advanced in their perceptions of fresh. He points to topics including prepared foods, local products, sustainability and health.</p> <p>“The pandemic has advanced the fresh foods topic,” he said in the webinar. “There’s more energy and excitement around fresh. There’s a growth in the culture of fresh foods — and how fresh can be utilized in our daily lives.”</p> <h5>Food Waste Gains Bigger Profile</h5> <p>Ujwal is an award-winning cultural anthropologist who specializes in identifying insights from big data ethnographic research. He’s an out-of-the-box thinker with a lot to say about fresh foods. As one example, he has identified a growing consumer interest in the food waste topic.</p> <p>“Food waste has come more into focus because of the pandemic,” he said in the webinar. “People are starting to believe that if you are a retailer that offers fresh foods, you should have a unique system to manage and minimize waste. If you have this in place, customers will assume you offer fresher foods. That’s new and super interesting.”</p> <p>He said retailers making responsible decisions will gain consumer trust going forward.</p> <p>“We’ll see this play out on the other end of this pandemic once the shackles are gone.”</p> <h5>Local Foods Take on New Meaning</h5> <p>Ujwal made an important connection between consumer interest in local foods and their perceptions about nutrition. He said the connection can be explained by a growing consumer focus on food miles — or how far food travels from origin to plate.</p> <p>“People are trying to make sense of this,” he said. “They perceive that if a food has traveled less distance, it must have better nutrition. This concept existed before, but it has accelerated.”</p> <h5>Prepared Foods Viewed Differently </h5> <p>Consumers are also thinking differently about prepared foods — focusing more on health and perceived levels of freshness, according to Ujwal.</p> <p>“They are wondering if the food was frozen before. Is there use of preservatives? How long was it sitting in a hot bar? These are simple but important questions that haven’t been front and center in the past.”</p> <p>The industry has an opportunity to accelerate transparency on this subject through improved communications, he added.</p> <h5>Next Steps for the Industry</h5> <p>I really like Ujwal’s points and his approach to examining perceptions and meanings. He’s right in saying that consumer insights need to be based on more than just behaviors — and that perceptions can be important predictors of long-term consumer trends.</p> <p>In the coming months FMI will be covering many other relevant fresh topics as part of this webinar series. Meanwhile, FMI’s 2021 <a href="https://www.fmi.org/fresh-forward">FreshForward</a> conference is scheduled for August 17 to 19 in Minneapolis.</p> <p>The new year will likely be a transformative one for consumers, business and society overall. I believe this industry will need to keep examining our customers through many lenses to make sure we are doing the best job of serving their needs.</p> <a href="https://www.fmi.org/events-education/webinars/member-only-webinars/view/webinar-recordings-member-only/2020/12/10/a-freshforward-conversation-interview-with-ujwal-arkalgud-of-motivbase" class="button">Webinar Recording </a>
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