The changing face of food-to-go: how it's becoming food for later
A large proportion of shoppers are buying food-to-go as part of or all of an evening meal, IGD’s latest research has found. IGD's head of shopper insight Rhian Thomas examined the opportunities this generates for suppliers and retailers.
Food-to-go is appealing as part of an evening meal
Six out of ten food-to-go shoppers (61%) have bought food-to-go as part of or all of an evening meal over the last four weeks. What opportunity could this create for different food-to-go products?
Shoppers are looking for hot options
IGD also found hot items feature in nearly half of food-to-go evening meal purchases. This echoes its previous findings that food-to-go shoppers want wider hot food-to-go ranges. Think about what other hot items would lend themselves to becoming food-to-go options.
Evening food-to-go shoppers spend more
Shoppers buying food-to-go in the evening spend £5.83 on average; this is significantly more than for other food-to-go missions. This could be an opportunity for suppliers to develop more premium products.
How convenience retailers are benefiting
Furthermore, IGD found that 9% of shoppers said they used convenience stores in the last four weeks to buy food-to-go for an evening meal. Many convenience retailers are already changing how they think about food-to-go, to take advantage of these new opportunities.
Some of the most exciting developments are in Norway and the Netherlands:
Jumbo City, Netherlands
Jumbo’s Foodmart concept is a European leader in developing food-to-go in larger formats. It’s now taking this skill into smaller stores, particularly the new Jumbo City store at Eindhoven station. Jumbo has also acquired foodservice operator La Place and is introducing learnings from this into its stores.
IGD expects to see more from Jumbo as it targets different food-to-go missions.
Source: IGD Research
Deli de Luca, Norway
This convenience-deli hybrid has long been one to watch in food-to-go. Its recent development of new forecourt sites has encouraged it to also target evening meal occasions. It’s been adding eat-in areas and enhancing its offering with new ranges including burgers and pizza.
Source: IGD Research
Opportunity for experienced suppliers
"We believe there’s a great opportunity here for suppliers with experience of targeting evening meal occasions, whether you’re in retail or foodservice. To be unique, it will be key to align your experience with food-to-go insight and customer knowledge," Thomas said.
Discover the latest in retail and food-to-go fusion. Join us for a retail safari in Dublin on 27 March or in London on 21 June or download IGD’s free report on food to go for later.
