Health & Wellness: The Purpose-Driven Consumer

For this study, the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association commissioned Sloan Trends, Inc., to do a national survey about the role that health concerns play in consumer purchases, especially in the dairy, deli, and bakery departments. The results appear along with an extensive review of the healthy foods marketplace. Some of the findings are surprising:

Health is strengthening as a food purchase mega factor, ranking third after taste and price, and above convenience.
Dairy shoppers are slightly more likely than the average consumer to believe that foods can have a strong impact on health.
Those who frequent the full-service deli at least three times monthly are more concerned than the average shopper about all of the major health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. People who shop the deli department at least five times a month are more likely than the average consumer to consider themselves extremely health conscious.
Frequent bakery shoppers tend to be less health-conscious than the rest of the population.
Shoppers say they are buying more reduced-fat milk (+30%), whole-grain bakery products (+29%), and yogurt (+19%).
More than half of shoppers are trying to avoid trans fat, total fat and saturated fat. Frequent dairy, deli, and bakery shoppers are more concerned about trans fat than the average shopper, but less concerned about a reduced-fat claim on products.
More than a third of shoppers say that the calorie content of foods is very important to them when they shop in the dairy, deli, and bakery departments. Frequent deli shoppers are the most concerned, with about 40% of full-service and a similar portion of self-service customers indicating they place great importance on calories.
Frequent shoppers in the self-service deli and self-service fresh bakery are more likely to buy organic and natural foods.
Seven in ten consumers tried to increase their consumption of whole grains last year.
About half of frequent deli and bakery shoppers say it’s important for products in these departments to contain added nutrients, such as vitamins or fiber. Added nutrition is ranked even more important by frequent shoppers in the dairy and full-service deli departments.

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