The 39th annual report, “Eating Patterns in America,” highlights a growing trend toward at-home dining over the past year, with 86% of eating occasions sourced from home. While retail volumes show modest growth, foodservice traffic remains under pressure. However, significant opportunities remain in both sectors, with American consumers spending nearly $1.7 trillion annually on food and beverages. 

Consumers continue to say their primary store for purchasing food does an excellent job of meeting their needs, with 79% of shoppers reporting that getting a “good value” when grocery shopping is their top priority. 

The 75th annual report surveyed food retailers’ and suppliers’ 2023 developments and expectations for the year ahead, finding that while the industry made key strides in addressing longstanding labor and transportation capacity issues, inflation and other financial hurdles caused industry profit margins to fall to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.

“Our annual research definitively shows that sustainable products thrive regardless of inflation and present continued opportunities to compete for market share amid the rise of store brands,” said Randi Kronthal-Sacco, Senior Scholar at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

This new report leverages IRI’s -- now Circana --  latest point-of-sale data, which reveals that at-home food and beverage inflation was up 13.2% in Q4 2022 versus Q4 2021. While consumption levels are continuing to soften, at-home food spend remains strong, with center store sales up 11.1% and perimeter sales up 6.3% in Q4 2022.

Over the last year, cost and value for money have become more important to more than half of food and beverage consumers worldwide. Today’s shoppers are increasingly exploring money-saving strategies, such as choosing lower cost items and cooking from scratch. 

The early stages of the pandemic disrupted this rhythm, and just as eating patterns were returning to pre-pandemic normalcy, food inflation set them on end again, reports The NPD Group in its recently released 2022 edition of Eating Patterns in America. 

In addition to the future of the economy, inflation is top of mind across the population. Nine in 10 consumers (94%) say they are currently worried about inflation, and 67% believe the majority of Americans share in these concerns, while a third (34%) believe it’s other Americans – rather than themselves – who are financially struggling right now.