The choices consumers make when buying food are more informed and they increasingly invest in food quality, according to research commissioned by Finnish retailer Kesko.
The retailer's report reveals that consumers are also expecting grocery stores to have a wider selection of food than before. These trends overtake the idea that consumers were more price conscious when shopping above other things.
It found that half of all Finns fall into a new category called ‘the hybrid consumer’. These are consumers ‘for whom only the highest quality or the most ethical option for a particular product is acceptable, but who is simultaneously extremely price conscious about another product’.
Researcher Hanna Santavuori of Frankly Partners, who conducted the study, said, “Consumer awareness has clearly increased – two-thirds of Finns say they make more informed choices about the food they buy than they did previously. What the hybrid consumer is willing to pay or what brings them satisfaction varies greatly between individuals.”
Millennial Mindset
Santavouri said that the internet has enabled consumers to search for information and compare products, which has resulted in an increased level of knowledge and an "explosive growth" in the range of goods on offer.
Ari Akseli, vice president for Commecer, Kesko's grocery trade, added, “People's behaviour has permanently changed and the significance of the phenomenon of hybrid consumption will continue to grow".
“In particular, the Millennial generation indicate the future direction of consumption. They spend time searching for new alternatives, find quality that is inexpensive, invest in themselves and want to stand out from the crowd. Food choices do not just depend solely on price – the hybrid consumer wants a varied range of food, local food, ethical products, the best quality and they will often even treat or indulge themselves.”
Kesko said that the new trend has given birth to a ‘very demanding consumer’ whose price and quality conscious habits reflect ‘their own relationship to the environment, their health and well-being, and who they are or would like to be’.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
