CHICAGO—Market researcher Mintel has identified specific food and drink markets that are improving due to consumers pinching pennies during tough economic times.
More consumers are opting to cook at home or brown bag their lunches, which mean breads, sweet spreads, frozen meals, side dishes and coffee are gaining recession-proof monikers.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen people trying to save money on food by either dining out less, cutting supermarket bills or both. More people cook at home now, but they still want healthy, convenient, tasty food and drink for their dollar,” said Bill Patterson, senior analyst at Mintel. “As consumers spend less and stay in more, certain food markets are benefiting. These recession-proof, or rather recession-fueled, industries are destined to do well throughout the economic downturn, but it will be interesting to track their sales after the nation recovers.”