It’s no secret that inflation has greatly impacted consumers, especially where grocery prices are concerned. Cutbacks include buying generic products instead of brand names and shopping at discount stores Bloomberg reports that fruit juice, frozen meals, and soup are three items that have been knocked off shopping lists.
Sean Connolly, CEO of Conagra Brands doesn’t think that “people are eating less” per the Bloomberg report and Carman Allison of NielsenNIQ believes that shoppers are using up their freezer and pantry goods but “spending more but buying less.” Campbell’s Soup, for example, had a decrease in the stock price of 18% in 2023 and Store Brands reports that there has been a 2% drop in total grocery sales this year and total food prices were up 7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 2022. Frozen food prices rose by 17% in the Q1 of 2023 and fruit juice prices got higher due to higher energy costs which translates into higher production costs. This could explain why these three categories have seen significant drops.
Connolly thinks that Americans are spending their money on other things besides groceries and says that consumers are “creative and very crafty in terms of finding ways to stretch their budget” and goes on to say “Consumers just cut back temporarily on the stuff that they buy in order to be able to fund other expenses. That’s what we believe.”
Source: TastingTable