"Food and catering" becomes the "top priority" of consumption

People who experience wind and rain often understand the soothing of food to people's hearts, and modern people are more and more concerned about "eating"
.
Recently, CBNData and Dingtone Grocery released the "Taste Trend-2023 Dietary Trend Insight Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), relying on consumption research data, revealing the consumption upgrading trend of consumers in dietary demand under the new quality "food" generation, and putting forward the development
direction of dietary consumption.

Food consumption presents a new demand point

Relevant data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that China's Engel coefficient has a trend of decreasing year by year, which means that the overall consumption and living standards of Chinese people are gradually improving, and the per capita consumption expenditure of food, tobacco and alcohol has also shown a trend of increasing year by year, which means that the new "food" generation of consumers has not only satisfied their appetite for diet, but is more willing to invest more to meet the increasingly rich dietary needs
.
Looking at the three stages of China's food consumption, from eating and drinking enough to eating well and drinking well, it is now moving towards lifestyle upgrading, gradually changing from industry-side promotion to consumption-side driven, representing the quality upgrade
of dietary consumption.

"Four directions of food, but just a bowl of human fireworks", consumers' care about food is also reflected in the data results: not only in recent years, consumer expenditure on food and beverage has increased year by year with the increase of income level, but also "food and catering" has surpassed other fields to become the "top priority"
that consumers pay most attention to in their daily lives.

Consumers who are becoming more and more particular about diet, in addition to stricter requirements for daily dietary consumption, have more rational thinking
in the late stage of the epidemic.
According to the data of the "Report", the three items of "healthy green, nutritional value and product quality" have become new demand points that have increased since the epidemic, and zero-added products and low-fat products are more popular
in dietary products.

Diversified life conditions have made people have more choices than ever before, and the pursuit of quality has gradually become the main theme
of the era of consumption upgrading.
Moreover, the quality upgrade of consumers in eating and drinking has also been more figuratively reflected, respectively to the three directions
of nutrition, refinement, and health.

Quality food standards upgraded

What does it take to eat well? Consumers who have entered the new "food" generation have their own set of new standards
for dietary upgrades.
The survey data summarizes the following three aspects of obvious dietary upgrade consumption trend insights:

Eating "high nutrition", families with babies have higher nutritional demands Compared with mountain and sea delicacies, modern people pay more attention to the high value
brought by balanced nutrition.
According to the data of the report, "nutritional value" ranks first among the main factors affecting consumers' choice of food and beverages
, accounting for a high proportion of 72%.
In terms of the categories purchased, more than half of consumers prefer more nutritious fresh vegetables and seasonal fruits
.
As the so-called "not eating from time to time", the growing fresh food e-commerce can well meet the needs of consumers to eat seasonal and nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables
in every season.

General consumers pay more attention to the two quality elements of "zero addition" and "pure natural" for food and beverages, and for families with children, the nutritional value of the whole family's table can be described as the top priority, so it has higher demands than other families in terms of food locking process, whether it is organic, and food origin
.
This refined demand has also been timely insight by some fresh food e-commerce: Dingtone Grocery has launched the "Baoma Strict Selection" channel to provide parents with a one-stop solution
of "children's dietary products + professional content + services".
Among them, Younuo broke the market segment with high-quality children's yogurt with "customized formula for children's growth", which is well received
by parents on this channel.

When it comes to "high nutrition", we have to mention the nutritional elements that modern consumers value more, according to the data of the "Report", the top three are protein, dietary fiber and vitamins
.
Families with babies are more concerned about the intake
of DHA and probiotics that help their babies grow.

Eat out of "small and delicate", so that life does not lack a small but beautiful sense of ritual In addition to three meals a day, how to add a romantic sense of ritual to ordinary life? Consumers of all ages have their own recipes
for their own tastes.

According to the data of the "Report", the post-85s prefer to bake desserts to add sweetness to their lives, the new workers after the 95s love to use coffee to "continue their lives", the post-00s and post-75s prefer to use wine to heal the body and mind, and the post-90s and post-80s have fallen in love with the health mode
of eating fruits and nuts respectively.

The exquisite lifestyle is indispensable for the embellishment of afternoon tea: Basque, meat floss scallops, alkaline water baking, Cantonese sweet water.
.
.
A variety of delicious desserts have become synonymous with exquisite eating
.
Different regions have different dessert consumption preferences, and there is a dessert list
in the east, west, south and north.

In the face of ubiquitous involution anxiety, "drinking" has been one of the ways for people to relieve stress and worry since ancient times, and in modern times, it is manifested as a "single order" at home to drink a little drunk: according to data from Dingtone grocery shopping platform, the annual GMV growth rate of alcohol in 2022 is as high as nearly 50%.

For the preference of alcohol, modern young people prefer fruit wine, cocktails, craft beer and other low-strength wines, and enjoy the pleasure of slightly soothing the mood
.

The growth of consumers' preference for coffee is also one of the significant features of dietary consumption upgrades, according to data from Dingtone grocery shopping platform, the annual GMV growth rate of coffee in 2022 will exceed 200%.

With the rapid development of the coffee retail market, it is the coffee habits of consumers, and the "Report" shows that more than eighty percent
of consumers have a "coffee age" of more than one year.
In recent years, a subdivided preference for coffee types has also been cultivated: coffee liquid represented by Yongpu and hanging ear coffee are deeply loved
by the post-95s, post-90s, and post-85s.

Eating a "light and healthy", green and less burdensome diet is preferred In recent years, the introduction of relevant support policies for "Healthy China" and the repeated impact of the epidemic have objectively promoted consumers' continuous attention to
health.
In addition to fitness and shaping to create a healthy body, the importance of eating healthy is also increasing in the minds of consumers, and the resulting dietary needs are becoming more and more personalized
.

Light food products with fitness and shaping are particularly concerned by contemporary consumers, and have also promoted the vigorous development of the healthy light food industry, according to the survey data of iMedia Consulting, the scale of China's light food industry is expected to exceed 120 billion yuan
by this year.
Some fresh food e-commerce companies offer popular light food products such as Asahi Vipshop, which are both delicious and healthy, providing thoughtful calorie calculators and one-stop healthy eating solutions
for health-conscious consumers.

In order to accurately manage the body to each "calorie" calculation of consumers, the top three factors they are most concerned about in the purchase of light food products are "protein content", "calories" and "freshness"
.
In order to provide consumers with more health products that meet their standards, many healthy eating brands such as Youshape are constantly optimizing product formulas, innovating and developing more high-quality low-fat, high-protein, low-additive light-burden products to meet consumers' needs
for a tangible life.

Whether it is the staple food of three meals a day or the snack supply when hungry, the new generation of fitness enthusiasts are more inclined to choose low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar products
.
As the main force of new consumption, the post-95 generation prefers low-calorie meal kits and low-calorie snacks represented by daily black qiao, which absorb energy while being healthy and hungry
.

Fresh food e-commerce takes advantage of the situation and runs in small steps

"All things in the world, only food and love can not be disappointed", Chinese people spend more and more efforts and thoughts on eating and drinking, which is why it also promotes the continuous upgrading and innovation
of China's food consumption and business formats.
Looking at the new forms of dinner that are popular on the market this year: making tea around the hearth, city camping, summer wine stalls, sunset mulled wine, etc.
, you will find that consumers in the new quality "food" generation must not only eat nutritiously, but also not settle for it, but also enjoy exquisitely, eat with a sense of ritual and quality, and also eat green and healthy with less burden
.

The quality upgrade of consumers' dietary consumption demand has also promoted the renewal of food consumption channels, especially the rapid growth
of fresh food e-commerce.
According to the data of the "2022 China Fresh E-commerce Operation Big Data and Development Prospect Research Report", the scale of China's fresh e-commerce market has expanded year by year in the past seven years, and is expected to exceed 400 billion yuan
by 2023.

In line with the general trend of the new quality "food" generation and the hot trend of emerging consumption scenarios, major fresh food e-commerce platforms have taken advantage of the situation and risen rapidly in small steps, showing the advantages of high cost performance, fast delivery, good quality, and multiple varieties, increasingly occupying an important position in the main channels of consumer dietary consumption, and creating more possibilities
in meeting consumers' nutritional, refined and healthy advanced dietary consumption needs.

(Luo Chen)

China Food News(2023.
01.
12.
02)

(Responsible editor: Luo Chen).