Buyers are experiencing the squeeze from the rise in inflation affecting food costs, with additional factors like escalating fuel costs and student loan obligations influencing food decisions. Yet, Anne-Marie Roerink, the head of 210 Analytics, mentioned during a discussion that consumers are leaning towards retail spending as opposed to dining out.

A notable tactic to save money, apart from home cooking, is minimizing wastage. On the brighter side, while items like frozen goods face sales constraints, the bakery section experiences minimal sales resistance. Assessing the overall store sales, unit sales have decreased by almost 3% compared to the previous year, with the bakery section only recording a 1.9% decline.

With unit sales dwindling and revenue increasing in nearly every category, comprehending consumer spending habits becomes crucial.

"It boils down to deriving value from spending rather than just saving," she emphasized.

This shift partly explains the slight reduction in dining out's popularity. Dining out is evolving from a routine to a luxury for many. And their approach towards it is transforming.

"Individuals are becoming more conservative with their dining budgets, making it a more deliberate choice," said Roerink. "They select eateries that align with their financial plans, perhaps opting for a less expensive main dish or cutting back on desserts, alcoholic beverages, or starters."

A significant transition, however, is converting the habitual restaurant visit into a grocery shopping expedition. Roerink shared an anecdote of a shopper who navigated a supermarket, visualizing a restaurant's offerings and selecting those ingredients for home preparation.

Increasingly, grocery stores are rivaling restaurants, explicitly marketing meal kits or individual components. Other tactics involve displaying the cost-per-meal metrics in-store, enabling buyers to draw direct cost comparisons.

This evolving landscape might manifest as consumers buying a sandwich or burger from a takeaway service, complemented by snacks, beverages, and sweets from their home pantry.

Baking exhibition will continue to share more industry professional content with you, so please stay tuned!

Bakery China, organized by China Association of Bakery and Confectionery Industry (CABCI) and Bakery China Exhibitions Co., Ltd. was launched since 1997. Bakery China is the Asia Pacific‘s leading event serving the entire value chain for the bakery and confectionery market. The event presents all range of ingredient, equipment, packaging and services, and enables global leading professionals and buyer delegates to meet and share the latest innovations and thinking on manufacturing & distribution, R&D, applications and related services for bakery industry.

The 26th Bakery China will be held on May 21-24,2024 at National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC), Shanghai, covering 320,000 sqm show space. Over 2,200 exhibitors and 300,000 visits are expected.（source:commercial baking）