A recent Nielsen study found that 46% of consumers are more aware of the term ‘buy local’ compared to other food related causes such as food waste in home (22%) and foods that provide a functional benefits (22%). In some cases, consumers define local as products from their local city and in other cases, products are perceived as local when they come from the same state or from within the US. The highest agreement of a local definition was for shelf stable products, 34% said products in this category can be local as long as they come from within the US. Less than 50 miles had the highest consensus among the respondents across all products, but the level of agreement varied from the highest (50%+) for bakery and foodservice to the lows (low 20%) for frozen and shelf-stable foods. For bakery, eggs, food service, and produce, respondents’ local radius was much smaller, preferring these products to come from no more than 50 miles away. For dairy and meat, respondents’ concept of local expanded to coming from within the same state as the store.
Source: foodnavigator-usa.com
Lightbulb Moment: Local will probably always be a draw for consumers but especially strong motivator in times of unrest. It has a grounding effect on consumers and makes them feel more secure. Wondering what other effects trends have on the consumer? That’s where Culinary Tides, Inc. comes in.