The food business is keeping a close eye at how people’s food shopping habits are being changed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
We wrote about an early study of shopping habits. Now, the New York Times has done some good, old-fashioned reporting, talking to a variety of industry sources and looking at a variety of surveys, to come up with its own seven trends of pandemic shopping. Its findings echo those of earlier research.
People are taking fewer trips to the supermarket and planning their shopping lists more, the Times reports.
Trips are now very business-like with people wanting to get in and out as quickly as possible.
Stores are responding by cutting down on the variety of products they offer, figuring people are there now for their tried and true choices, not new and unproven products.
Stores also are being rearranged and re-equipped to make it easier to maintain distance and checkout without touching anyone or anything.
More people are shopping online as well, and a variety of staples such as beans, oranges and even frozen food, all are selling well. Frozen foods had been shunned for years because of an unhealthy image, but that apparently has faded in the face of a search for convenience.
And local foods are getting more attention. I think this will be one of the lasting impacts.
The complete Times list:
1. Trips Are Fewer, Lists Are Better
2. Online Aisles Are Bustling
3. Orange Is the New Snack
4. Redrawing the Store
5. Choices Are Shrinking
6. The Freezer Is Hot
7. ‘Local’ Is a Bigger Lure
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 
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