Kantar’s Worldpanel new report reveals major changes in how people eat and cook in its Appetite for Growth 2024 report. A clear trend for people wanting meals to be simpler and more flexible – influenced by remote and hybrid working – means brands need to find new ways for their products to stay in shoppers’ repertoires.
Kantar data shows that a brand’s chance of growth doubles if it can find new uses for its range. This gives brands a clear incentive to intentionally seek out new ways and moments for their products to appeal to people, whether through marketing, distribution or innovation.
Many brands have successfully moved into new spaces in recent years. This includes Lurpak, which repositioned itself from sandwich spread to integral cooking ingredient to make it relevant at every time of day. Nutella’s premium ice cream launch allowed it to enter a £300m market in the UK, while Starbucks’ now sells flavoured coffee pods and sachets and even large cartons of latte and iced coffee that can be enjoyed at home.
The study is based on data from Kantar’s Worldpanel Food Usage panels, which track when, why and how people choose to eat and drink. Kantar now tracks people’s usage behaviours in nine countries: panels in Germany and Italy joined the UK, Brazil, France, Colombia, Mexico, Spain and Portugal in 2024, meaning it can help its clients understand the motivations of over 70% of Western Europe and 60% of Latin America.
GenZ – the taste of tomorrow?
Three times out of four GenZ-ers now spend less than 20 minutes cooking lunch and dinner, usually sticking to just two or three ingredients thanks to a fondness for convenience (41% of GenZ lunch and dinners are made for convenience, vs 26% of the total population). A quarter of GenZ also follows high-protein or vegan diets – more than twice as much as the average. These two behaviours limit brands’ chances to get on GenZ’s cooking roster, making it even more important for them to find new ways for their products resonate with this group.
Javier Sanchez, Director, Out of Home & Usage at Kantar’s Worldpanel division, said: “Finding new spaces doesn’t always require a massive leap or groundbreaking innovation. Sometimes, it’s about recognising a new moment or occasion that fits with how people want to live their daily lives. Today’s consumers want food that’s more convenient and takes less time to cook, which often means they’re buying fewer ingredients. Making your product more useful and more relevant means you can buck that trend – brands now need to get creative and explore how they can do that best.”
Javier Sanchez continues: “When you know how people feel about every moment in the day, the way you sell to them can become much more granular. People’s cultures, traditions and life stages all influence which of their demands matter most to them. It can feel like there a lot of variables to understand but the potential return – doubling growth – is significant.”
Access the complete report Appetite for Growth – How three million food and drink occasions reveal the future of eating and watch the webinar on demand.