The Changing Food Consumer
Remember when food brands targeted women 25 to 54? Remember when we said nobody’s cooking so we can forget promoting food with recipes? How times have changed.
Recently, I found a darling Father’s Day card crafted by my son David when he was six. It was entitled, “Why I Love Dad,” and through pages of drawings, he counted the ways. In addition to the typical, “he takes me to the park,” David also added that “he buys us food” and “he does the laundry.” I’m sure his teacher wondered what mom was doing while dad did these chores. Sharing household responsibilities was an anomaly in that time. Not today.
Stephanie Azzarone in MediaPost asks, “Are dads the new moms?” We have been seeing this trend in newspapers, magazines and on TV. Sometimes it’s because mom prefers being in the workforce and is good at it, and dad takes the supporting homemaker role by choice. With more men out of work than women, dad may have lost his job and mom has become the breadwinner.
Stay-at-home dads are finding community through daddy blogs, support groups and social networking sites geared to their new lifestyle. Azzarone’s company, Child’s Play Communications, is launching a Digital Dads group.
So when we think about marketing food, it’s no longer just to women. Dads are shopping and cooking, too. And not just the ones who are home full-time. This younger generation of dads thinks it’s right to share the workload.
And what about those recipes? Today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that, in this economy, the action in the supermarket has shifted to the boring center of the store, where the staples like canned goods and pasta are located, instead of the sexier perimeter (think sushi bars, Starbuck’s, flower shop). According to the Journal, citing Nielsen Co., “unit sales for many center-store items rose 0.6% to 2.6% this April from a year ago even as overall food sales declined 3.1%.” And private label products are resurging with a vengeance, supported by robust store promotions.
If consumer are opting for food staples instead of the more expensive, prepared and processed foods, they need to know quick and easy ways to cook them. That means giving them recipes.
The economy has turned conventional wisdom on its ear. The playing field has changed. And it brings new challenges and new opportunities for food marketers.
