The latest edition of our Consumer Food Insights (CFI) report from the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) is now out. In this edition, we took a look back at the trends that have occurred over the first full year of the survey and explore some issues related to Holiday spending.
So, what changed over the course of 2022?
Food spending increased over 15% from the start to the end of the year; most of that increase happened in early summer and spending has been fairly flat for the past several months.
Consumers reported a rise in food prices paid over the course of the year; however, their expectations about future food price rises has fallen since June and reached a low in December.
Consumers are experiencing fewer stock-outs. Back in January, about 25% said they were unable to find specific products they wanted to buy at the grocery store. In December, the figure was only 14%.
There is a downward trend in online grocery shopping. Back in January 21% said they bought groceries online. By December, this figure had fallen to 15%.
In response to higher food prices, in December 22% of consumers said they were switching to cheaper brands, the highest percent recorded over the course of the year.
What hasn’t changed over the course of 2022?
Food insecurity rates have remained steady.
There is no noticeable trend in stated satisfaction or happiness with food.
Our Sustainable Food Purchasing (SFP) Index hasn’t much changed.
The share of consumers who reported being vegetarian or vegan is essentially flat.
Specific consumer shopping and eating habits remain steady. These included items like how often people choose cage-free over conventional eggs or choose organic over non-organic or choose local over non-local foods or check nutrition labels.
We added some questions specifically about Holiday spending (our survey was in the field just prior to Christmas). A little over a third of consumers (36%) said they were worried about affording holiday gifts. Of those who were worried, the most common stated response to how people were responding was more shopping at discount stores and spending less on gifts followed by spending less on restaurants and takeout.
Finally, in addition to our usual tracking questions, we added some questions about perceptions of treats to U.S. farm production and American well being as well asking questions about perceptions about effects of various actions on sustainability and well-being. Those results and more are available in the full report.