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Updated on Sep 11, 2023
Updates monthly

Tracking Trends in the Food and Beverage Industry

Grocery cost concerns have remained stable throughout summer 2023
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Share of respondents who said they are very concerned about the cost of the above categories

The food and beverage industry continues to navigate a complex landscape as constantly evolving macro forces — from concerns about the broader economy to the future of work — shape daily choices around eating and drinking. Leaders in food and beverage must stay informed on consumers’ changing attitudes and behaviors around grocery shopping, cooking and dining out.

Morning Consult is tracking consumer trends in the food and beverage industry through a monthly survey of U.S. adults.

Find a more detailed methodology for this monthly tracker below.

Key Takeaways

  • Grocery delivery declines among parents as back-to-school season begins. A quarter of parents said they ordered groceries for delivery online in August 2023, down from 36% the prior month. Parents may be limiting their online grocery shopping and returning to traditional in-store channels as they adjust to school year schedules.

  • Cooking at home dips in August. About 2 in 5 (39%) U.S. adults said they cooked a meal from scratch with a recipe in August 2023, which is down from 45% in May 2023. This trend is consistent with the dips in home-cooking seen last year, which may be attributed to busy end-of-summer schedules.

  • Most consumers remain committed to healthy eating and drinking. In August 2023, 61% of consumers said they plan to choose healthier foods and drinks over the next month, which is consistent with earlier summer months. Despite seasonal pressures to maintain a healthy lifestyle, interest in healthy eating generally remains steady.

How Consumers Get Groceries

Share of respondents who said they got groceries the following ways in the past month:
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Measuring Food Insecurity

Shares of respondents who said they often or sometimes did not have enough food to eat in the past month
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Share who said they did the following at least once a week in the past month:
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Consumers Who Tried New Recipes This Month

Shares who said they tried a new recipe for the first time in the past month
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Frequency of Using Restaurant Types

Respondents were asked how often they purchased food or beverages from the following types of restaurants in the past month:
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Figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Share of U.S. adults ages 21 and older who said they drank the following at least once a week in the past month:
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Shares of U.S. adults ages 21 and older who said they drank the following at least once a week in the past month:
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Consumers’ Healthy Eating and Drinking Habits

Shares who said they plan to choose healthier foods and drinks next month
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Consumer Diet Preferences

Share who said each of the following describes their diet:
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Source of This Data

Methodology

The Morning Consult Food and Beverage Monthly Trend Tracker relies on Morning Consult’s proprietary survey research capabilities. The interviews are conducted online, and the data are weighted to approximate a representative sample of U.S. adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race and region. Results from the full survey have a monthly sample size of 2,200 U.S. adults and an unweighted margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

About Morning Consult

Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.

The author would like to thank Emily Moquin for her contributions to this research.

Megan Lynott
Researcher

Megan Lynott is a researcher at Morning Consult, where she analyzes high-frequency data to help the company deliver real-time insights to the food & beverage industry.