Food for Thought: Recent shifts identify new opportunities

Featuring insights from Ipsos’ food and beverage trackers including CHATS and FIVE, Ipsos experts explore shifts in eating routines and offers tips for targeting lucrative cohorts.

• Tariffs and consumer habits are shifting, but there's a way for retailers to win. Ipsos' Jenny Thompson talks about balancing value and loyalty in uncertain times.
• Consumers are seeking food and beverage products that marry wellness and decadence: Ipsos' Jenny Thompson shares new research exploring changing eating preferences.
• What's in store for food and beverage at convenience? Ipsos' Emma Balment reveals three clashing trends shaping the channel in 2025.
• Looking at Loyalty: Industry experts, including Ipsos' Emma Balment, weigh in on guest expectations, today's tools, and building genuine customer connection. This article is featured in Canadian Restaurant & Foodservice News | Fall Winter 2024.
• As Canada's population diversifies, the definition of comfort food is evolving. As we head into the colder months, there is an opportunity to modernize the way we connect with Canadians by understanding what comfort truly means. Jenny Thompson breaks down what comfort food means by generations, who's cooking what, how international cuisine fits in, and the growth of 'clean comfort'.
• How grocers can reconnect with digitally savvy Gen Zs though better-for-you snacking. In this article, Jenny Thompson examines the snacking patterns of the connected generation.
• Cracking the modest income shopper code. Read more about why, as grocers seek to provide value to all shoppers, it's important to understand how to target those with modest incomes.
• Ready for lunch? This article references new insights about the growth of Grab & Go solutions.
• What's in a label? Discover the impact of new front of package labels have on Canadians’ c-store buying decisions.
• Guess who's coming to dinner? In his latest article, Asad references recent research from the Ipsos Foodservice Monitor illustrating new dining habits and behaviours across all meal-times (not just dinner).
• Selling summer: Read why the food and beverage industry needs to make it easy for Canadian consumers to satisfy their warm weather cravings.
• Competing for dollars. As consumers' dining habit shift (again) what does it mean for convenience stores? Kathy shares recent data from the Ipsos Foodservice Monitor’s (FSM) daily tracking study.
• Shifting Priorities: Three big insights on how Canadians are approaching healthy eating. Discover how consumers often view their health choices as an extension of their values and beliefs.
• Snacking habits present growth opportunities: Research shows consumers’ pandemic-related snacking habits continue to evolve, which means is good news for c-stores and manufacturers. Get more insights by revisiting our on demand webinar here.
• Conscious consumerism in convenience: The chaos and uncertainty brought-on by our cumulative pandemic experience over the past 20-months, necessitates food and beverage manufacturers and retailers to re-evaluate decades-long paradigms, to keep up with the shifting habits and priorities of a more conscious, “non-binary” consumer.
• Enter the transition era focuses on new research insights to illustrate how Canadians are slowly shifting back to 'normal' and the opportunities that exist for brands.
• Conscious consumption: Offering Canadians convenience without compromise is a keynote presentation by Kathy at the 2021 Star Women in Convenience Awards. Kathy outlines key macro trends shaping consumers' consumption choices and examines how retailers and their partners can be inspired and empowered to better meet the needs, wants and values of their customers as a framework for growth.
• What About Lunch? Breakfast and dinner have been winners over the course of the pandemic—but what’s happening with the mid-day meal, and what’s the opportunity? In this article, Kathy explores what the research is telling us.
• Back to traditional meal routines: Over the past five years, traditional eating patterns centered around the classic concept of "three square meals a day" had slowly eroded in favour of more frequent meals and snacks throughout the day. Shifts away from the classic meal consumption culture were born from a confluence of evolving needs and dietary preferences, increasing time pressures and competing commitments, highlighting the transformation of modern-day lifestyle dynamics.
• Are you ready for the new kids on the block? While the pandemic experience has prompted change across the generations, it potentially stands to have the biggest long-term effect on activities and attitudes of Gen Z consumers, now aged 11 to 24 years old or those born between 1997 and 2008 (though that definition may vary slightly depending on who you ask). The cohort currently represents almost 20% of the Canadian population.

Want more food insights? Check out Asad Amin's article - Restaurants can capitalize on soaring consumer confidence - featuring insights and trends from Ipsos' Foodservice Monitor.