The market for home-cooked meals has been growing steadily over the past year, according to recent research. With a cost-of-living crisis fueling consumers’ desire to save money on restaurant meals, more people are opting to prepare their own meals from scratch. As a result, convenience stores are seeing a spike in sales of rice and pasta, which are two key items in the world foods category.
Data from Unitas, a popular wholesaler, finds that rice accounts for 24% of category sales in the world foods section, while pasta follows closely behind with 14%. And for customers who want to add flavor to these staples, cooking sauces and accompaniments present an equally vital category, with 94% of shoppers reporting having purchased from this genre in the past year.
Consumer goods company Unilever’s Partners for Growth category advice program specifies that post-pandemic, customers are looking for quick-and-easy meal solutions. To boost sales, the brand suggests that retailers ensure their shelves are easy to navigate and group related grocery and dry goods together. This approach, such as placing mince, tomato sauce, pasta, and cheese in the same vicinity, to ease customers concerned about meal preparation.
Despite the cost of living, many customers show preference for high-quality products and juggle their restaurant budget for novelty, thus presenting an opportunity for premium brands. Riso Gallo, a reputed specialty rice manufacturer with listings in convenience stores, recommends that retailers provide meal solutions that are quick, easy, and midweek-dinner friendly, such as its My Risotto Perfetto range.
Jason Morrison, the managing director at Riso Gallo UK, underscores that limited space in convenience stores presents an opportunity to showcase specialty products, enabling wider audience reach and entry into consumers’ everyday life habits. Retailers, he adds, can leverage cross-merchandising with natural ingredients such as mushrooms, vegetables, olive oil, and wine, to inspire more shoppers. Riso Gallo suggests placing recipe booklets and free-standing display units near the store entrance to attract more customers.
In conclusion, despite the challenge posed by the pandemic, consumers’ interest in home-cooked meals continues to grow. Retailers need to pay close attention to trends in the world foods and cooking sauces and accompaniments categories to attract more shoppers. By offering meal solutions that are quick, easy, and midweek-dinner friendly, retailers can inspire customers to explore newer, more interesting options such as premium brands and specialty products like Riso Gallo.
