What does convenience food mean to U.S. consumers?
A new report—“Our Transformation of the American Meal 2017”—published by the Hartman Group explores this evolving meaning of convenience in American food culture today.
Convenience foods have undoubtedly transformed the way entire generations of American consumers have cooked and savored food. Throughout the colorful history of convenience when it comes to food, there has been a tension between convenience as “solution” and convenience as “helper.” A new report—“Our Transformation of the American Meal 2017”—published by the Hartman Group explores this evolving meaning of convenience in American food culture today.
The group’s research finds that what consumers mean by convenience foods in modern meals is:
- Products that assist, rather than replace, home cooking. These are especially what consumers are looking for on dinner occasions where they want to make a fresh, home-cooked meal.
- Making the world of flavors experienced outside the home more accessible at home. The family cook is less and less satisfied with only quick and easy solutions for meatloaf or macaroni and cheese. Instead, households are now looking for choices that compete more directly with the increasingly global range of flavorful offerings enjoyed at the plethora of sit-down restaurants (casual and fine dining).
Millennials’ mealtime habits appear to be shifting more than other generations as more become parents, one of the biggest life changes in most adults’ lives. They continue to prefer fresh, less processed food but now face greater time and energy pressures as they adapt to eating more meals at home on a consistent basis.
Parents’ increased needs and kid-focused priorities often center around getting food on the table every night with hectic schedules. To help solve this, 42% of parents rely on pantry items and meal helpers (versus 37% of non-parents).
Young families are likely looking for options that can help them get quick, easy meals on the table that please everyone but still fit their health and wellness criteria, such as convenience foods that have fresh, less processed cues and simple ingredient lists. Parents use a wider variety of components to get meals on the table in general, and Millennials may migrate back to the frozen aisle as they have kids.