Top Five Trends in Fresh Foods in 2016 and Beyond

Research companies IRI, FMI and FMI Fresh Executive Committee are joining forces to unveil the top five trends that will impact the fresh food industry in 2016 and beyond.

Consumers’ shopping and eating patterns are changing, and they are shopping the perimeter of the store for fresh products like never before. These trends are moving fast and are continuously evolving, so retailers that adopt all five trends will propel growth in 2016 and years to come:

• Food Transparency: Consumers want to know what’s in their food and where it comes from. Retailers that embrace food transparency grow sales up to 25 percent faster than their peers.

• Convenience: Convenience is king in many categories. Across departments, items that meet consumers’ need for convenience are typically growing much faster than the category as a whole.

• Connected Consumer: A whopping 40 percent of consumers use digital tools before shopping the perimeter. With e-commerce sales forecasted to grow to 10 percent of total grocery sales by 2022, retailers can position themselves now to win shoppers and market share.

• New Supply Chains: In response to the first three trends, retailers are creating new sources of supply through either owning their own farms or working with local farmers and sustainable suppliers that turn the traditional supply chain upside down.

• Prepared Foods and Specialty: Retailers are going toe-to-toe with restaurants by offering such specialties as cheese shops, sushi bars and restaurant-style prepared meals. In fact, prepared foods are the third largest perimeter department, with USD 11 billion in sales and growing at 10 percent a year.

FMI’s Rick Stein and IRI’s Steve Ramsey and Sally Lyons Wyatt will unveil the groundbreaking, fresh food research in a special “Coffee With” session titled “Top Trends in Fresh” at the FMI Midwinter Executive Conference. The presentation will take a high-level look at the top five fresh food trends that will drive perimeter store sales for retailers in 2016.

To take a deep dive into each of the top five trends, IRI and FMI also are hosting a series of monthly webinars that will kick off in late January and run through May. The first webinar, scheduled for Jan. 28, will focus on “Food Transparency.” For more information and to register for the free webinar visit:  https://engage.vevent.com/rt/informationresourcesinc~012816.

The perimeter of the store, which includes fresh meat, deli, produce, bakery, seafood and prepared foods, can now make up to 40 percent of a store in some instances. Because the emphasis on the perimeter is changing the retailing landscape, IRI and FMI are taking a high-level look at the following trends that are making the biggest impact on the perimeter aisles through a combination of IRI data, consumer panel information and analysis, IRI solutions and consumer segmentation, secondary research and interviews with retail executives.